Household Finance Index

The latest wave of the Household Finance Index (HFI) shows the sharpest deterioration in household finances for over two years.  June's survey indicated that 36% of households saw their finances deteriorate since the previous month whilst only 6% recorded an improvement.  Alongside the deterioration in current finances, latest data showed that households grew more downbeat about the outlook for the next twelve months.  Around 50% of households expect their finances to worsen, while only 19% anticipate an improvement.   The HFI is intended to anticipate changing consumer behaviour accurately and is compiled each month by Markit, a leading global financial information services company, using data collected by Ipsos. The survey is based on monthly responses from 1500 adults aged 18-64 across Great Britain from Ipsos's online panel.  A representative sample of adults was interviewed with quota controls set by gender, age, region and household income.  Ipsos was responsible for the fieldwork and data collection whilst Markit was responsible for the analysis, reporting and interpretation of the results.