We are on the brink of a crisis. Czechs are already saving on bad habits and Christmas will also be more frugal, sociologist | expects iRADIO
Czechs save on Christmas-related expenses only when there is nothing to spare, says sociologist Martin Straka from the Ipsos research agency: “We always save for Christmas somehow. Nevertheless, the current price crisis will affect these holidays, even though they are otherwise sacred to us. This year it will be the calm before the storm.”
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A quarter of Czech households today live on debt, according to a sociologist in the Radio Wave program Finančák.
“It will be a much more economical Christmas for them. One third of the population will probably deny themselves a little something, for example they will not go to restaurants as often on holidays or reach into reserves. Some people still feel that the crisis does not affect them that much,” summarizes Straka.
Nevertheless, the majority of the population is already saving. “We know that about 80 percent of people today save on what we consider to be above standard. Someone foregoes a foreign vacation and travels around the Czech Republic, someone postpones the purchase of a car or household equipment,” says the sociologist.
“We are saving for the stock and it is a logical and quite responsible behavior. Unfortunately, this has a secondary effect that economists don’t like. They see a slowdown in consumption,” adds Straka.
Right after that, Czechs save on leisure activities – on spending in restaurants or in cinemas. “Especially the part of the population that is in a very bad situation, also saves money on clubs for children, even if it only cost 3,000 crowns a year.”
According to Straka, Czechs are starting to look for savings even in the case of bad habits, such as alcohol and cigarettes:
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“It doesn’t mean they stop drinking and smoking, but maybe they switch to cheaper brands or smoke half a pack a day instead of one. If a quarter of the population is managing with zero or I have to borrow and at the same time have some obligations, then now I have to cut back on this consumption as well.”
More often than before, people are buying cheaper food brands and looking for discounts. “This will also apply to Christmas, we will definitely use less than a year ago. We will also waste and throw away less,” the sociologist expects, adding that this year the volume of borrowed money for Christmas expenses will probably also decrease.
On the brink of crisis
The Czechia is at the beginning of a crisis, believes sociologist Straka. “We know from our data that 78 percent of households have already started saving on energy. They control extinguishing, reduce the heated temperature by one to two degrees. A number of households took the coming crisis as the last reason to replace appliances with less energy-intensive ones. Interest in photovoltaics or heat pumps has increased dramatically,” he adds.
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In addition to traditionally vulnerable groups such as single mothers and the elderly, young families found themselves in trouble. “They often have a mortgage, which has become more expensive as well as energy. They also often had a lot of liabilities and consumer loans, because with children the expenses are big,” adds the sociologist.
However, young families cannot reduce these expenses, so they have relatively little room for savings, adds Straka, adding that next year, some households will end up being fixed on mortgages and utilities. Rental prices are also rising.
“It’s a ticking time bomb. I think that’s why we’re already saving on inventory, because the costs are going to go up. Big budget items can add up for many of us. This brings uncertainty,” he warns, adding:
“We also see that people are beginning to behave less responsibly, for whom the energy deposits have already been raised by, say, 30 percent. They feel like that’s it. But the impact of the crisis is yet to come and energy will become even more expensive.”
Listen to the full interview.
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