Insurance company SunLife asked more than 10,000 people from across the UK how they would allocate£600bn of the UK’s budget in 10 different categories.

Key findings include a majority being happy to receive less financial support from the Government in retirement, in favour of lower taxes today. On average, respondents would choose to cut state support for older people, including pensions, by over £48bn (32%) from £150bn to £101.7bn, while increasing the size of tax cuts by 156% to £17.9bn.

Despite the controversy surrounding Chancellor Osborne’s proposed £12bn welfare cuts, SunLife’s study suggests consumers would prefer more sizeable cuts of around £27bn – reducing welfare spending by almost 25%, from £110bn to £82.7bn.

However, respondents would like government spending on healthcare (the NHS, social care and mental health) to increase to £138.3bn, overtaking older people as the Government’s biggest Budget expenditure

“As the Chancellor prepares to announce his emergency Budget, these findings shows that the British public has a clear view on how they think the UK’s finances should be spent,” said Dean Lamble, managing director of SunLife.

“With an ageing UK population, pressure on areas such as welfare and state pensions will only increase. But voters – even the over 50s – told us that their biggest priorities for the new Government are to reduce spending in these areas in favour of lower taxes and more generous health, education and environment budgets. The Chancellor and all MPs could benefit considerably by taking these views into account.

“These findings, suggest that more of us are happy to make our own provisions for the future, especially if we’re given more financial freedom through lower taxes. We believe that the financial services industry should take note and make its services more accessible to a wider cross-section of the Great British public, empowering them to take a greater role in their own financial planning.”