One in ten people who had planned a big spending decision in the next six months have decided to put it off in the wake of the Brexit vote, a survey has claimed.
People who had hoped to buy a car, move house or spend money on a holiday have decided to either delay or abandon their plans completely following the UK's decision to leave the EU, an Ipsos Mori poll suggested.
More than a third of people in work admitted to being concerned about their job prospects, and almost 40% of people are worried about being able to pay the bills, the market research company said.
But the findings also suggested more than half of people do not expect their personal financial situation will change in the next half-year, it added.
It said 57% of those asked do not think their personal situation will change, 18% think it will be stronger in six months, but around a quarter think things will get worse.
Ben Page, chief executive of Ipsos Mori, said the Brexit vote had resulted in the lowest level of economic optimism in the last four years.
He said: "The impact of the Brexit vote on consumer confidence is undeniable – we're seeing the lowest level of economic optimism in four years, though we're not in 2008 territory yet.
"Initial indications are that retail footfall is holding up, the pound has stabilised after its initial precipitous drop, and the findings show most of us don't think we're going to be personally affected in the immediate future.
"There's little indication that people are taking panic-stricken or rash decisions, but the question will be whether the Keep Calm and Carry On attitude can win the day or we're seeing precursors of the economic pain to come."
:: Ipsos Mori interviewed a representative sample of 1,124 people online aged between 16 and 75 across the UK earlier this month.