Inflation 'still harsher for older people'

20/05/2009

Britain's retirees are still facing harsh inflation rates - but price rises have eased on most recent reports.

Alliance Trust, an insurer, said that goods and services cost the over-75s 3.9 per cent more in April 2009 than they did in April 2008.

This is 70 per cent higher than the official inflation figure of 2.3 per cent covering all age groups, released by the Office of National Statistics yesterday.

Older people have been harder hit by recent price rises - as they spend proportionally higher amounts on food and fuel, items which have been particularly affected by inflation.

Despite all this, both the official government figures and the Alliance Trust research found that inflation rates had declined since March, easing the burden on household budgets.

Commenting,Shona Dobbie, head of the Alliance Trust Research Centre, said, "Although it is good to see the inflationary pressures facing the elderly begin to recede, the actual rate of inflation facing this age group remains uncomfortably high."

She added: "This is much higher than the official rate of inflation, and much higher than the inflation rate facing any of the other age groups. The benefits of falling prices are coming through more slowly for the elderly."

Tags; Budgeting Advice, Retirement Money Problems,

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