Research from investment, protection and retirement specialist LV= shows how millions of people continue to describe their financial situation as struggling.
The LV= Wealth and Wellbeing Research Programme* - a long-term quarterly survey of 4,000 UK adults – reveals that the proportion of UK adults who describe their financial situation as struggling is still high. Some 43% (23m) respondents say they are struggling compared to 42% (23m) in the previous quarter and 35% (18m) a year earlier.
Some 38% (20m) of people are worried about money, which is a slight improvement on the previous quarter (40%/21m) but worse than a year earlier (35%/18m)
The proportion of people who say they feel stressed and anxious (43%/23m) has fallen compared to the previous quarter (46%/25m) and a year ago (45%/24m). The proportion of people who say they feel exhausted (34%/18m) has fallen slightly compared to the previous quarter (36%/19m) and is similar to a year earlier (35%/18m).
Worries are still high but show small improvements
Worries about the cost of inflation remain high but have fallen slightly compared to the previous quarter.
“The LV= Wealth and Wellbeing Research Programme provides a long-term view of the state of the nation’s personal finances.
“The latest results from our long-term quarterly survey shows that the rise in the cost of living is continuing to take its toll on finances of millions of people. People are generally feeling more gloomy about their finances than at any time since the dark days of lockdown. Although the economy hasn’t performed as badly as many forecast, it is bumping along the bottom and there appears little prospect of it returning to significant growth soon.
“However, there are small signs that some of the metrics we track are gradually improving and this could be due to the fact that people are becoming used to the high cost of living and are adjusting their finances accordingly. However, while inflation remains high, millions of will continue to struggle financially.”
*LV= surveyed 4,000 nationally representative UK adults via an online omnibus conducted by Opinium in March 2023
UK population stats from ONS. Total UK adult population is 53.2m UK adults (aged 18+).
LV= is a leading financial mutual and serves over 1.16 million members with a range of financial products. When we started in 1843 our goal was to give financial security to more than just a privileged few and for many decades we were most commonly associated with providing a method of saving to people of modest means. Today we follow a similar purpose, helping people to protect and provide for the things they love, although on a much larger scale and through a wide range of financial services including insurance, investment and retirement products. We offer our services direct to consumers, as well as through IFAs.
LV= and Liverpool Victoria are registered trademarks of Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Limited (LVFS) and trading styles of the LV= Group of Companies. Liverpool Victoria Financial Services Limited, registered in England with registration number 12383237 is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, register number 110035. Registered address: County Gates, Bournemouth, BH1 2NF.