New report from Bacs looks at 40 years of financial life in Britain

Latest figures released in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Bacs, the industry body behind Direct Debit in the UK, reveal that GB adults have been tightening their belts over the past year. That's just one finding from a brand new report which looks at the financial lives of Britons over the last four decades.

More than three quarters of people surveyed by Bacs said they are cautious about how the spend their money (79%) and GB adults also spent less across individual bills compared to the previous year with regular personal commitments such as mobile telephone, car insurance and healthcare payments reducing from £91.95 to £87.33.

The research is taken from Bacs' Consumer Payments Survey (CPS) which is 20 years old this year. The survey, which began in 1988, provides a consumer based measure of financial behaviour and includes attitudes to money, banking behaviour, and Direct Debit. The fieldwork, which is representative of the GB population, is carried out by Ipsos-MORI.

Other key findings from the report which includes an overview of financial life 40 years ago, 20 years ago and today reveal:

• The number of GB adults buying online has increased 4% over the past year.
• 30% of people surveyed owned their home outright, with 43% contributing to a mortgage on a monthly basis.
• men work longer hours than women - out of the 34% of GB adults who work a 30 plus hour week, 62% are men and 38% are women.
• Young adults are the most likely age group to save - 71% agree with the statement "I always try and save money each month".
• More men bet online than women - out of the 7% who spend money on gambling online more than half are men (60%).
• Almost a fifth of GB adults are notprepared for the digital TV switchover.

Michael Chambers, Managing Director, Bacs said: "Over the past 40 years, Bacs has processed more than 68 billion payments on behalf of UK consumers and businesses. In 2007 alone we were responsible for processing more than 5.5 billion payments. That's an average of 90 payments for every man, woman and child in the UK, a figure which puts us in a unique position when considering the changing household payments landscape over the years and particularly since CPS records began in 1968."

Consumer Payments Survey 2008 - Bacs 40th Anniversary  1.12 Mb PDF

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