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23m say they are struggling with their finances

05/06/2023
RETIREMENT
  • 26m remain worried about rising energy bills

Research from investment, protection and retirement specialist LV= shows how millions of people continue to describe their financial situation as struggling.

The LV= Wealth and Wellbeing Research Programme* - a long-term quarterly survey of 4,000 UK adults – reveals that the proportion of UK adults who describe their financial situation as struggling is still high. Some 43% (23m) respondents say they are struggling compared to 42% (23m) in the previous quarter and 35% (18m) a year earlier.

Some 38% (20m) of people are worried about money, which is a slight improvement on the previous quarter (40%/21m) but worse than a year earlier (35%/18m)

The proportion of people who say they feel stressed and anxious (43%/23m) has fallen compared to the previous quarter (46%/25m) and a year ago (45%/24m). The proportion of people who say they feel exhausted (34%/18m) has fallen slightly compared to the previous quarter (36%/19m) and is similar to a year earlier (35%/18m).

Worries are still high but show small improvements

Worries about the cost of inflation remain high but have fallen slightly compared to the previous quarter. 

  • 49% (26m) of respondents are worried about the rising costs of energy bills compared to (53%/28m) in the previous quarter 
  • 45% (24m) are worried about the rising prices of day to day items compared to the previous quarter (47%/25m)
  • 36% (19m) say they are worried about the future compared to  the previous quarter (37%/20m)
  • 18% (10m) are worried about not getting medical treatment when they need it compared to 19%/10m the previous quarter
  • 16% (9m) are worried about their savings being devalued by inflation compared to 18% the previous quarter
“The LV= Wealth and Wellbeing Research Programme provides a long-term view of the state of the nation’s personal finances. 

“The latest results from our long-term quarterly survey shows that the rise in the cost of living is continuing to take its toll on finances of millions of people. People are generally feeling more gloomy about their finances than at any time since the dark days of lockdown. Although the economy hasn’t performed as badly as many forecast, it is bumping along the bottom and there appears little prospect of it returning to significant growth soon. 

“However, there are small signs that some of the metrics we track are gradually improving and this could be due to the fact that people are becoming used to the high cost of living and are adjusting their finances accordingly. However, while inflation remains high, millions of will continue to struggle financially.”
 
Clive BoltonManaging Director of Protection, Savings & Retirement

Notes to editors

*LV= surveyed 4,000 nationally representative UK adults via an online omnibus conducted by Opinium in March 2023
UK population stats from ONS. Total UK adult population is 53.2m UK adults (aged 18+).