2009 saw money attitudes change, survey shows

Those in debt and others in the UK appear to have altered their financial attitudes because of the effects of the recession felt in 2009.

This is according to a new survey by the Charities Aid Foundation, conducted by Gfk, which found that 29 per cent now believe that possessions are less important.

Such a figure compares to the 52 per cent of respondents who claimed before the downturn that money was more essential.

Furthermore, expenditure on going out and on holidays seems to have fallen out of favour, with 44 per cent and 38 per cent respectively spending less in these areas, while 23 per cent have been saving more since the start of the year.

John Low, chief executive of the body – which hands out in excess of £1 million to charities every day – observed: “If experience from previous severe economic downturns is anything to go by, this shift in values may last throughout the lifetime of the generation affected.”

By Sarah Adie