The majority of Britons continue to find that financial difficulties are having an overbearing impact on their ability to manage their money, a new study reveals.

In research carried out by the Alliance Trust Research Centre it was indicated consumers across most age groups claim - over the course of last month - to have experienced a rate of inflation above the government figure. However, it appears to be older people who are developing the most monetary difficulties. According to the firm, those over the age of 75 were revealed to be suffering from the highest rate of inflation at 4.8 per cent - some 45 per cent higher than the official 3.3 per cent rate. Meanwhile, 65 and 74-year-olds and 50 to 64-year-olds face rates of 4.3 and 4.1 per cent respectively. Only those under age the 30 were reported to actually be receiving the same rate of inflation as officially set out by the government.

As a consequence of experiencing surging costs in living it may be possible that consumers develop problems managing various constraints on their spending, which may well include areas such as credit and store cards, home loans, mortgage repayments and household bills.

Over the course of the last 12 months the financial services group pointed out that petrol prices have surged by about 20 per cent with utility expenses experiencing growth of more than 11 per cent. Meanwhile, the cost of food was shown to have risen by about nine per cent. However, falls were noted in footwear, clothing and audio-visual goods. With young people indicated as spending a higher proportion of their income on such areas than average it was claimed that this has helped to them to avoid the worst of the financial difficulties.

Shona Dobbie, head of the Alliance Trust Research Centre, said: “For the economy, the problem is high inflationary pressures throughout the whole supply chain, but for the consumer the problem centres in particular around the basic goods and services, as these are displaying the sharpest price increases. This leaves us all with less money to spend on the items where prices continue to fall. Unfortunately, we expect little respite from this situation over the next couple of months as the oil price is expected to remain high and there are global shortages of some foodstuffs.”

Ms Dobbie went on to assert that headline inflation is likely to rise even further in the short term. This, she stated, may see financial services providers leave the rates of interest attached to their various monetary products to be “higher for longer, increasing the risk of an even greater slowdown in demand and threatening the economy as a whole”.

For consumers finding that they are struggling with the various demands in which their spending are under, applying for a low rate loan may well be of assistance. In taking out such a loan it could be possible that borrowers can meet the cost of higher bills, purchase major household goods or consolidate debts quickly and effectively. Getting a consolidation loan might be of particular help for people worried about meeting financial constraints after a recent study by MoneyExpert showed 2.7 million Britons said they were “very concerned” about their capacity to manage their debts.