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Elderly hit hardest by high utility bills
16/04/2008 10:46:00
An independent study of age-related inflation showed that those over 75 have been hit hardest by inflation.
The study from the Alliance Trust showed that although inflation rates for all age groups remained ahead of the official rate of 2.5 per cent, the over-75s faced the highest with a rate of 3.4 per cent.
Food price inflation has increased by almost six per cent over the last year, utility prices by almost four per cent and petrol prices have risen by 20 per cent in the same period, according to the research.
Shona Dobbie, head of the Alliance Trust Research Centre, said that study continues to highlight the extent to which the impact of inflation can differ from the official headline figure.
"Price inflation for some food groups, such as dairy products, is currently running above 15 per cent. This impacts the elderly who spend a higher proportion of their budgets on basic food items," she continued.
Research from Bristol University showed that consumers in their late 50s and early 60s owe on average at least four times as much in unsecured credit as their counterparts did a decade ago, reported the Financial Times.
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