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Two-thirds of consumers worried about personal finance
Consumers’ confidence has been hit once more, as personal finance woes and fears over job prospects take their toll, according to the British Retail Consortium.
The Q3 2010 poll, conducted by Nielsen, revealed that 13% of people believe their personal finances are ‘bad’, with a further 48% saying they are ‘not so good’ – a 6% increase on Q2.
And when asked what they spend their spare cash on, 26% of people claimed that they have ‘no spare cash’.
In addition, the survey showed that three-quarters of people are increasingly fearful for their jobs, with 48% of people saying job prospects in the country will be not so good and 26% saying they will be bad over the coming year.
This compares with the second quarter when 20% of people thought job prospects would be bad.
Fears about the economy in general lessened between Q2 and Q3, as Britons’ worries turned towards their own ability to cope. In the third quarter, 26% cited the economy as their first or second biggest concern, down from 39% in Q2.
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Instead, increasing numbers of people are becoming worried about rising utility bills (up from 15% to 23%), food prices (up from 12% to 20%), and personal debt (up from 19% to 20%).
Stephen Robertson, British Retail Consortium director general, said: “Consumer confidence is now down to its lowest for a year and these results suggest prospects for the early part of next year are fragile.
“People’s fears about their job prospects for 2011 are the main cause. Despite tentative indicators of recovery, four out of five people still think we’re in recession and a fifth of those believe that won’t have changed by next autumn.
“With spare cash short and cutting back rising up the household agenda, a strong revival in consumer confidence is likely to be some way off.”