Pensioners most likely to feel financially secure, reports finds

Pensioners are most likely to feel financially secure, with almost three quarters saying they could cover their expenses for six months or more if they lost their primary income, and over 60 per cent reporting they have money “left over at the end of the month”.

In contrast, less than half (49.4 per cent) of lone parents feel financially secure and 39 per cent feel they are “just getting by”.

These are among the findings of a report on financial wellbeing, published on Thursday by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). Drawing on interviews with 1,505 nationally representative respondents, the report, Financial Well-being in Ireland: Financial Literacy and Inclusion in 2023, notes that while the economy is “close to full employment consumers are currently facing challenges with rising inflation and interest rates”.

It finds the biggest difference between households, when asked whether they were satisfied with their financial situation, is age.

Over half (57.6 per cent) of all households “completely agree” or “agree” that they are satisfied, while over a fifth (22 per cent) disagreed or completely disagreed they were. Those aged 60 or over were most likely to agree (73 per cent) and those aged 19 to 29 (42.3 per cent) least likely to.

In terms of household type, couples without children (67 per cent) and couples with children (58.4 per cent) were more likely to agree than, single people living alone (57.7 per cent) or lone parents (49.5 per cent.)

Single people living alone are likely to include a substantial number of older people, particularly older women.

Asked whether they had money left over “at the end of the month”, most households strongly agreed or agreed (60.5 per cent), with people aged 60 or more most likely to (63.7 per cent), compared with 57.9 per cent of those aged between 30 and 59. Among the youngest cohort, 63.3 per cent said they had money left.

Asked whether they were “just getting by”, lone-parent households were most likely (39 per cent) to agree or strongly agree with this, followed by single people living alone (38.1 per cent). Couples with children were least likely to agree with this (26.9 per cent).

Where households are not making ends meet, the most popular source of extra income is to work overtime or take on more work (16 per cent), followed by borrowing from family (14.5 per cent), asking for help from family or friends (8 per cent) or to taking out a personal loan (4 per cent).

Asked how long they could continue to cover living expenses without borrowing or moving house if they lost their main income, 51.8 per cent of all respondents said they could do so for six or more months while 4.1 per cent said they couldn’t for even last one week.

Those most likely to be able to live for at least six months without their primary income were people aged 60 or older (72.5 per cent), with 46.4 per cent of 30-59 year-olds and 26.6 per cent of 19 to 29 year-olds able to. Those living alone (41.3 per cent) were more likely to be able to than couples with no children (40.6 per cent) and couples with children (32.5 per cent).