"The LV= Wealth and Wellbeing Research Programme has tracked how millions of people have been squeezed financially over the past 12 months as rising energy bills, interest rates and inflation reduce their spending power."
- Clive Bolton, managing director of protection, savings and retirement at LV=
The insurance mutual claims this trend first appeared at the end of last year, when 10% of UK adults said they were expecting their finances to improve over the next three months. This has now risen to 12% whilst the proportion of people who think their finances will worsen over the same time frame has reduced to 40%. LV= has said these are the most optimistic figures since March 2022.
These statistics were calculated by indices that track overall changes in spending, saving, and finances. As of March 2023, these indices have shown that the financial outlook for the next three months is -2. Although this is a negative index, proving more people still think their finances will worsen over the next three months, it’s a considerable improvement since last December, indicating that this outlook is gradually changing.
In terms of savings, the index remains low at -13, compared to -16 in December last year.
Commenting on these findings, Clive Bolton, managing director of protection, savings and retirement at LV=, has said:
“People’s finances are in a poor state compared to two years ago, but they have begun to gradually improve - a trend that our research identified in December last year. Although millions of people are facing a financial squeeze, the proportion of people who think their finances will improve is gradually rising while the proportion who think they will worsen is falling.
“Our latest data is the most optimistic we’ve seen since March 2022 and confirms the trend of a gradually improving picture. This appears consistent with the 0.1% growth in GDP in Q1 2023 announced by the ONS. If the cost of living and inflation ease and wages improve, people could begin to feel more optimistic about their finances.”
