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Saving suffers as prices rise |
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11 August 2008 |
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A fifth of consumers do not save, and only a third of them think that saving is very important – compared with almost half as recently as May.
The current economic situation seems to be having an impact on consumers' propensity to save as food and fuel prices continue to rise, according to the findings of Nationwide’s savings research for July.
How regularly consumers save
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April 2008
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May 2008
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June 2008
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July 2008
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Regularly save
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54%
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50%
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46%
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46%
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Occasionally save
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27%
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33%
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33%
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33%
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Never save
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19%
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17%
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20%
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20%
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Don't know
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0%
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0%
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1%
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1%
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Other results of the research include:
• Nearly two-thirds (62%) of consumers save less than they think they need to
• Nearly half (46%) of consumers are optimistic that in six months’ time they will be saving what they need to
• Just a third (35%) of consumers think they'll be saving less than they need to in six months’ time
• When asked whether people think it's a good time to save given the current economic situation, 31% of consumers thought it was whilst 41% thought it wasn't. A quarter (26%) of people think it's neither a good nor bad time to save
"Consumers seem to be feeling the effect of the current economic situation, as over a third think they are unable to save as much as they need to. Equally, with around half of people saving regularly, consumers may find if situations get tougher they won't have any savings to help them through harder times. It's also worrying that a fifth of consumers - potentially 12 million people - never save,” said Lee Raybould, head of savings at Nationwide.
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