Elderly ‘hit hardest by inflation’

Elderly consumers across the UK have been hit hardest by inflation in recent weeks, according to research from the Alliance Trust.

Inflation rates have been increasing more sharply for elderly Britons than for the country as a whole for at least four years, the organisation reports, which for many people will have made becoming debt free considerably more difficult.

People aged over 75 are most acutely affected by rises in the cost of living and for them inflation is currently at 2.2 per cent compared to the headline rate of 1.8 per cent, the latest Alliance Trust research found.

“Throughout the entire course of our four year study, the elderly have consistently suffered the highest levels of inflation,” said Shona Dobbie, head of the Alliance Trust Research Centre.

“We are also becoming concerned about the more recent trend of young adults also facing inflation which is significantly higher than the headline rate, largely due to higher rents and education costs, as well as the costs of basic goods.”

Figures from Scottish Widows earlier this year showed that grandparents in the UK have a collective debt management burden worth more than £57 billion.