Inflation ‘impacts low earners’

With the slight increase in inflation seen in recent weeks, the Alliance Trust Research Centre has claimed that low earners, who could already be searching for a debt management plan, are hit 34 per cent harder by such rises than the rest of the population.

Spending what money they have on basic goods – where prices have increased relatively sharply – has led to low-income families most vulnerable to variable inflation rates, the study concludes.

Shona Dobbie, head of the Alliance Trust Research Centre said: “Our two-year study has shown consistently that the UK’s lowest income groups are facing an inflation rate which is substantially higher than the average headline inflation rate.”

“This is a direct result of this income group’s shopping basket,” she added.

Research published by the Consumer Credit Counselling Services recently suggested that the burden of debt management woes in the UK is shifting towards elder sectors of society.