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NEW
RESEARCH REVEALS DRAMATIC FALL IN LEVEL OF SAVINGS
EXCLUDING
pension contributions, UK adults are saving on average just 5.9% of
their gross income each month, while 37% of people claim they are
unable to save anything at all. Younger and older people find it the
hardest to save as 43% of those aged under 24 and 41% of those over
65 are saving nothing. Sainsbury's Finance is urging people to
review their savings and pick an account with a track record for
paying consistently attractive rates.
The new research from Sainsbury’s Finance shows that those in work
are saving just 6.6% of their income compared to 4.8% for those not
in work. The percentage of those not saving anything in these 2
groups is 33% and 41%, respectively. The findings indicate
that only around 6% of people are saving more than a year ago, with
16% saving less. However, some people are saving considerably less.
Some 3.74 million people (8% of the adult population) are saving
over 20% less than they were 12 months ago, with just over half of
these people (2 million) saving over 50% less. Only 1% of people are
saving over 20% more than they were a year ago.
For those people who have reduced the amount they are saving in the
past year, the main reason cited was that the cost of living has
increased (47%); this was followed by a change in personal
circumstances (16%); and personal debts (14%). On a regional
basis, people in Yorkshire and Humberside are saving the least,
putting aside on average 4.7% of their monthly income into savings,
while people in the East Midlands and Anglia are saving the most at
6.7%.
Neil Cameron, Savings Manager, Sainsbury’s Finance, commented:-
“Many people are clearly finding it difficult to save, with a
worrying number unable to set aside anything at all. It is
concerning that many people have decreased the amount that they are
putting aside in savings since last year. At the very least,
it is advisable to have money set aside for emergencies and
recommendations vary from saving 10% or more of your salary to
having at least three months’ salary readily available. For those
whose personal circumstances and the rising cost of living are
making it difficult to save it's important to pick an account that
provides a consistently attractive return so that your savings are
working their hardest for you. We hope that by enabling people to
save from as little as £1 a month they'll be more likely to get into
the savings habit." |
Heart attacks double in a decade for people with diabetes
THE latest
figures revealed at Diabetes UK’s Annual Professional Conference, in
Glasgow, show that the number of heart attacks in people with Type 2
diabetes has doubled over the last 10 years.
People with
diabetes account for 13.9% of all hospital admissions for heart
attacks (12,824 incidents) between April 2005 and March 2006,
compared to 7.2% (5,861) between April 1996 and March 1997.
Researchers studied hospital records of more than 2.8 million major
cardiovascular events and over 600,000 cardiovascular procedures in
England. The findings also showed that in the same 2 periods, angina
admissions more than doubled from 6.7% (7,095) to 15.3% (15,302) for
people with Type 2 diabetes and stroke admissions increased from
6.1% (5,130) to 11.3% (10,221). Over the 10 year period there was
also a 4-fold increase in key hole heart surgery.
Julie Byron, Regional Manager of Diabetes UK North West, said:-
“This research is particularly worrying as 100,000 people in the
UK are diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes every year and around 80% of
people with diabetes die of heart related complications. However,
good diabetes management can reduce the risk of heart disease by
56%. It is vital that people with diabetes have access to high
quality care to enable them to control their condition, or we could
see this heart time bomb explode with huge costs to people’s health
and an already overburdened NHS.”
Christopher Millett, Consultant in Public Health at Imperial
College, London, who was involved in the research, said:-
“These figures provide a stark warning about the growing burden of
the diabetes epidemic on the National Health Service.
Major efforts
are required to tackle obesity, an important risk factor for
diabetes, and to further improve the quality of preventative health
care for people who already have this condition.”
There are currently around 252,000 people diagnosed with Type 2
diabetes in the North West and a further 65,000 people who have the
condition but don’t know it. |
