Saga 'extremely concerned' about consumer cutbacks

11/09/2008

Different generations have different priorities when it comes to making budget cutbacks in the credit crunch.

New research from Saga shows that, among over-50s, 25 per cent will be spending less money on essential items such as food and clothes in the current economic downturn.

These cutbacks have been caused, in particular, by rising heating costs.

A slightly smaller number of over-50s, 20 per cent, told the firm that they would be cutting down on their debt repayments for mortgages, loans and cards for this reason.

However, among the under-50s, the situation was reversed.

While 20 per cent said that they would be imposing restrictions on essential items - this figure went up to 24 per cent for debts.

"These statistics are extremely concerning given the current economic climate and the mounting debt incurred by many younger generations at University," Saga said in a statement.

Kevin Still, EuroDebt director, added: "This research seems to strongly correlate with our experience where many over-50s and over-60s still have high levels of unsecured debts and mortgage payments to make with less disposable income.

"Coming into autumn with more bad weather means that heating and general electricity costs for simple things like drying clothes are likely to continue rising. General housekeeping seems to being squeezed and many consumers opting to make minimum repayments on credit cards rather than paying off card debts." ADNFCR-1819-ID-18775430-ADNFCR