Money is the biggest concern for over-50s in the UK today, a new survey has revealed.

Saga has published its latest quarterly Quality of Life index, which aims to determine the current standard of living, happiness and health enjoyed by older people across Britain.

The group found that the index dropped to a record low of minus 16 for the second three months of the year, down from minus 8.6 in the previous quarter.

Finances were cited as the biggest worry among the 10,000 respondents, outranking concerns over health and crime.

Continuing high levels of inflation, coupled with minimal salary rises, meant that the purchasing power of many over-50s has been severely limited.

Charles Davis, managing economist at the Centre for Economics and Business Research, which produced the report, said: "With income growth trailing behind inflation, the spending power of the over 50s continues to decline, meaning that many households are cutting back on expenditure.

"With the UK economy back in recession, it may be some time before the over-50s start to see an improvement in living standards."

Official government figures show that the consumer price index fell to 2.8 per cent last month but over a quarter of over-50s surveyed by Saga claimed that they experienced inflation of more than eight per cent.