Women ‘less likely than men to say they are coping on their income’

Women were less likely than men to say they were coping on their income in early 2022, a survey has found.

Just under two-thirds (63.7%) of people surveyed between January and March said they were coping on the money they have coming in.

This included 61.6% of women who said they were coping and 66.0% of men who said the same, according to the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) TouchPoints 2022 consumer research.

The younger generations were also less likely to say they are coping on their salary.

Just over half (51.7%) of 15 to 34-year-olds said they were coping on their salary, compared with nearly six in 10 (59.7%) 35 to 54-year-olds and nearly eight in 10 (77.8%) over-55s surveyed.

Some 84.8% of people surveyed in early 2022 said they were aware of the prices of goods and services increasing.

The research also indicated that rising living costs may be pushing food choices which are often perceived as healthier down people’s priority lists.

The proportion of people who said they prefer to eat organic food has fallen over the past two years while the proportion who always read food packaging labels before making a purchase has also fallen over the same period, the research found.

Around 3,000 people were surveyed across Britain.

Belinda Beeftink, research director, IPA, said: “For any brands and their agencies navigating this, whether food-related or not, it may be prudent to focus their comms activity on asserting value for money, on staples versus luxury items and on being seen to be in tune and supportive of their consumers at this tough time.”