13/05/2008 17:08:00
Due to price increases on basic items such as food and gas, the inflation rate affecting the elderly rose to 4.1 per cent in April, a study has revealed.
This is 37 per cent higher than the average rate facing the under 30s, according to the report by Alliance Trust, the international financial services group.
Figures for 50 to 64-year-olds and 65 to 75-year-olds did not lag far behind, at 3.6 and 3.8 per cent respectively.
According to Alliance Trust, the reason behind this difference lies in what people spend their money on.
The figures showed the elderly tend to dedicate a higher proportion of their budget to the basics.
However, global food shortages and rising wholesale gas prices have caused the costs for these basic items to rise significantly, for example, dairy products alone have seen a rise in inflation of 16 per cent.
Shona Dobbie, head of the Alliance Trust research centre, said: "The official headline rate of inflation rose considerably this month, but in the case of food and energy the situation is even worse, and this leaves us with less money to spend on the items where prices continue to fall."
A trend showed that people aged under 30 spent more on luxuries such as clothing, shoes and audio-visual equipment, which have enjoyed continuously falling prices, explaining why this age group's average rate of inflation remained lower.
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