Almost two-thirds are concerned about rising interest rates while 3 in 4 worry about paying their energy and utility bills

With analysts expecting the biggest rise in interest rates for 27 years, new polling by Ipsos shows rising interest rates are a concern for almost two-thirds of Britons (64%), including 35% who say they are very concerned at the moment. Similar numbers are worried about rises over the next year.

While majorities of all age groups are worried about rising interest rates at the moment, concern is highest among younger Britons. Eight in 10 (80%) of 18-34s say they are concerned compared with 63% of 55-75s. Worry is also higher among Londoners (77%) and 2019 Labour voters (72% vs. 54% Conservative voters). 

Rising interest rates are not the only concern for Britons currently, 9 in 10 (89%) are worried about the rising cost of living generally, while three-quarters (75%) are concerned about their ability to pay their energy/utility bills.  Levels of concern for these are high across all age groups And again, similar proportions are worried about the prospects for these for the year ahead.

At the moment, two-thirds (67%) are worried about the value of their savings while just under half are concerned about rising house prices (47%), their ability to pay their rent/housing payments (45%) and rising rent prices (44%).  These are all more of a concern for younger people and Londoners – for example, 59% of 18-44s (and 63% of Londoners) are worried about their ability to pay the rent or mortgage repayments, compared with 22% of 55-75 year olds, while 70% of 18-34 year olds (and 69% of Londoners) are worried about rising house prices, compared with 25% of 55-75 year olds. 

While many worry about their finances both now and for the year ahead, a quarter (26%) of Britons say they have already had to use their savings to get by over the last six months, while 1 in 5 (18%) say their/their household’s income has decreased. Fourteen per cent say they have increased the outstanding balance on their credit card while around 1 in 10 have fallen behind on bills/utility payments (10%), increased the amount being used on overdraft (9%), applied for a personal loan (9%) or fallen behind on loan/credit card payments (8%). Almost half (45%) say they have not experienced any of the options listed in the survey, but younger people were more likely to have experienced at least one of the financial difficulties asked about than older people (58% of 18-44 year olds said at least one of the difficulties had applied to them, compared with 38% of 55-75 year olds).

Gideon Skinner, Head of Political Research at Ipsos in the UK, said:

We know that concern about the cost of living and inflation is at the top of the public’s agenda, with the proportion saying it is an important issue facing the country at a 40 year high in Ipsos’ long-term trends.  And this particularly manifests itself in concerns about energy and utility bills and in the value of people’s savings.  But with the Bank of England stating they need to put up interest rates to help bring inflation down, there is concern about the impact of higher interest rates too – which suggests exploring additional solutions to help people who are facing financial difficulties will be high on the public’s wish-list for the new Prime Minister’s government.
This research also shows that while concerns about the cost of living, bills and savings are shared across all age groups, worries about housing costs (and rising house prices) are particularly acute among younger people, who are already more likely to say they have experienced a range of financial difficulties since the start of the year.

Technical note

• Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,757 adults aged 18-75 in Great Britain. Interviews took place on the online Omnibus on 2nd-3rd August 2022. Data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.