Just under one in five (19 per cent) renter households are on track for a moderate income in retirement, research from Hargreaves Lansdown has revealed.

The data, which comes from the Hargreaves Lansdown Savings and Resilience Barometer, reported that renters were in a less favourable position than their homeowning counterparts, 54 per cent of which were found to be on track for a moderate retirement.

Additionally, the number of renter households on track for a moderate income in retirement was found to be below the UK average as Hargreaves Lansdown reported that, overall, 42 per cent of households were on track.

Self-employed households were similarly found to be below this average, as the barometer reported that 25.5 per cent of them were on track for a moderate retirement.

However, Hargreaves Lansdown pointed out that almost 28 per cent of self-employed households were on track for a moderate income six months ago, arguing that that cost-of-living crisis has “undoubtedly made matters worse

Single parents were also found to be struggling, with only 17.5 per cent of households on track for a moderate income in retirement in contrast to the 46 per cent of households with two parents.

Hargreaves Lansdown head of retirement analysis, Helen Morrisey, commented: “We are seeing signs that our long-term financial resilience is slipping, and some groups are undoubtedly feeling the pinch more than others.”

Morrisey added that renters, single parents and the self-employed are already “lagging” behind their coupled-up home owning peers when it comes to preparing for retirement and warned that the longer the cost-of-living crisis continues the more “exposed” they are likely to be.

“Much has been made of soaring house prices in recent years, but rents have also been on the rise, trapping people in a terrible spiral that undermines their financial resilience,” she continued.

“Paying higher rent makes it harder to save a deposit so you either don’t get on the housing ladder or you get on it later.

“This then means more people are either paying a mortgage into retirement or paying rent for life – this is a massive ongoing cost that can have a huge impact on people’s financial resilience in both the near and long-term.“

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