Too poor to save money? Express front page overstates the evidence

The front page story of today's Express said researchers had found rising living costs are set to make millions of people "too poor to put cash aside" for savings.

The article was based on a report commissioned by the Post Office, although we don't know whether the report supports the Express's headline because it isn't going to be published until later in the year.

A press release on the findings says they predict that from 2013 to 2018 the amount of cash the average household will have available at the end of the year for savings will fall by £836.

But while the release says a rising cost of living is one of the possible factors behind the predicted drop, it isn't the only one. The release also mentions the impact of "increased consumer confidence" — in other words, it says it's possible that people will have less money to save partly because they have bought more things.

To fully understand the these findings, we would need to see the full report, and it's disappointing that these claims have been published without the underlying research being made available. However from what we know from the press release, there is reason to be cautious about the Express's interpretation that people will be "too poor" to save money.