Survey: Half of Czechs only have savings for three months

Half of Czechs do not have financial reserves for more than three months, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos Mori and commissioned for Provident Financial.
At the same time, about 50 percent of those questioned by the survey said that they had some money left over each month after paying all the necessary expenses.

The survey, conducted in September among 510 respondents, also suggests that seven percent of respondents have a large surplus of money left at the end of the month, with a ratio of six men per one woman.

“These results are not too surprising, given the unequal remuneration of men and women on the labour market. The imbalance in wages must inevitably be reflected in the final sum of available finances.

“The results may also be influenced by the proportion of parental leave taken by women,” says Provident spokeswoman Kateřina Jarošová.

According to the survey results, the level of education has a significant impact on financial security. People with a university education more frequently reported that they had a reasonable or high amount of money left at the end of the month (63 percent and 14 percent, respectively).

Among the people with lower education, 44 percent said they had little money left over, compared to 21 percent of college graduates. Seven percent of the population have no money left at the end of the month.

In the event of losing their main source of income, 26 percent of people expect that their savings would last them at least for a year. About 32 percent of men surveyed said their financial reserves would last longer than one year, compared to 19 percent of women.

Almost half of those questioned by the survey said their savings would last three months or less, while 14 percent having no savings.

“The lack of savings is understandable these days. Given the inflation and rising energy and basic food prices, it can be hard for some Czechs to save.

“Still, it is necessary to calculate all expenses well, get rid of the unnecessary ones and put aside at least a small amount of money regularly every month,” Mrs Jarošová of Provident Financial concluded.