Wednesday, May 18, 2011

The hard times continue for the UK's over-50s


Back in Feb I wrote about the first issue of Saga’s Quarterly Report and congratulated the company on the new insights it was providing about older consumers in the UK. Well the second issue has just been published.

The research is based on a nationwide Survey of 11,800 over 50s with economic analysis and interpretation of official statistics. Rightly, Saga focuses on the impact on unemployment, low interest rates and rising inflation and the impact this toxic mixture has on older people.

As you can see, things are not getting any better. The decline in the perception of the standard of living has increased. Sorry about the standard of the images - you might need to click on them for full size version.

I commented upon the way that the younger old seem to be taking the brunt of the problems. As you can see this pattern continues.

For completeness, Saga should also be reporting about how younger age groups are faring. My guess is that it the result would not be much better. Part of the decline in the standard of living of the over-50s results from the financial sacrifices they are making for their kids and grandchildren. Dick Stroud

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