Quarter of UK’s over-50s coping with rising prices
20 December 2022
Christmas is coming and, for some of the UK’s over-50s, the goose is still getting fat.
Inflation may be driving up the prices of food and fuel, but a surprising quarter of Britain’s 50-90 year-olds say they are not yet being affected by the cost-of-living crisis, comprehensive new data shows.
Conversely, nearly a third said they were being impacted “a lot” by rising prices.
This tale of two senior economies is revealed by the LiveMore Barometer. This is a comprehensive survey of the financial health of Britain’s 50-90 year-olds by LiveMore, the mortgage lender which lends to this underserved age group.
LiveMore’s chief executive officer Leon Diamond said: “We rightly hear a lot about older people who are struggling to make ends meet in this difficult economy. But our survey shows that this is only part of the picture. There are many 50-90 year-olds who are not yet feeling the pinch thanks to income from good pensions or investments.
“In fact, these are the people whose spending is continuing to drive the economy and will help it to recover once the recession properly bites.”
Respondents were asked to say how impacted they were by the cost of living crisis. Some 24 per cent said they had noticed the increased costs but were unaffected “at the moment”. Three per cent said they were completely unaffected. Four in ten (41 per cent) said they were affected but only “a little”.
The hardest hit by rising prices were at both ends of the age spectrum, with up to a third of 50-59 year-olds and 80-89 year-olds being impacted.
Those aged 70-79 were the most comfortable financially, with 35 per cent unaffected by the rising cost of living. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the majority of these were in the South East - where more than a third of 50-90 year-olds were able to cope with rising prices - and East England, where that figure was 31 per cent.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland and the North West saw the highest percentage of 50-90 year-olds “hit hard” by the UK’s economic crisis.
Diamond added: “As a financial institution, we would rather get a proper understanding of the over-50s’ financial health than make assumptions about them. The results from the Barometer show the true complexity of the financial pressures they are under. Of course, it is hard for some. But not for everyone. And that is good news for the economy.”
