The over-50s are fearful they will have to sell their family home to cope with the soaring cost of living, research revealed as long ago as August 2011.
20% worried they would have to ‘downsize’ to generate enough cash to pay all their bills, according to a report I found from Saga in August last year. The report is conducted and generated every 3 months.
In this report hey feared that the rising price of everything from necessities such as energy and food to petrol, as well as increased taxes and historic low interest rates will squeeze them to the point that they will have to choice but to sell up.
Additionally, many over 50s said that they had to pay out more and more to help their cash-strapped children and grandchildren.
Dr Ros Altmann, of Saga, which specialises in providing services for the over-50s, said at the time: ‘People are being forced to do things that they would have never considered doing before.
‘It is impacting on their quality of life. Selling their home is not what they would have expected or wanted to do.’
In a separate survey, by HomeLet, found that the number of homeowners aged between 66 and 70 who sold their houses and became tenants instead increased by 30% last year.
The Saga report canvassed 11,650 over-50s about their financial situation and lifestyle. And it highlights that grandparents are making sacrifices in order to support their younger relatives in the tough economic times. Approximately 33% said that they are paying for everything from their child’s mortgage to the weekly food shop – even though they are struggling to make ends meet themselves.
Having worked all their lives to buy their family home, many can no longer afford to own one.
Saga suggested that there could be a ‘lost generation’, who cannot find work but also need money to live, and also face living longer than ever but with poorer incomes to do so.
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