A new poll by Manulife Bank (TSX: MFC) has found that nearly 60% of Canadians have cut back their spending in the wake of rising interest rates.
The poll found that Canadians have cut back spending on both extras and essentials to help them better cope with a high interest-rates environment. Specifically, the poll found that 27% cut back on entertainment such as movies and bars, 17% put more money into savings accounts, and 10% spent less on essential items such as groceries.
The online survey of 2,003 Canadians was conducted between May 11 and 14, after the Bank of Canada had raised interest rates three times since last summer, but before the central bank's latest hike in July to 1.5%. Two-thirds of respondents to the Manulife Bank survey said they are concerned about rising interest rates, and 23% said they were spending more on interest payments than they did last year.
And while some respondents said they were watching their spending more closely, half of respondents in debt said they are stressed about the level of indebtedness and one in three are kept awake at night worrying about over it. What's more, 40% said the level of indebtedness has a negative impact on their mental health and 30% said debt is causing issues in their personal relationships, the poll showed.
The polling industry's professional body, the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
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