According to the prosperity barometer, Austrians are financially well positioned. A third had to make up for wage cuts during the crisis.
The Austrians are in good financial shape. According to the prosperity barometer of the collection agency Intrum, they are in second place in general financial well-being across Europe, as in the previous year. General financial well-being consists of the ability to pay bills, saving and general financial literacy.
While Austria has improved in terms of the ability to pay bills on time, there has been a decline in understanding of basic finance-related terms. Nevertheless, according to Intrum, 69 percent of those surveyed were able to assign common financial terms to their correct definitions.
Due to the corona pandemic, however, a third of Austrians had their salaries reduced, with retirees being least affected. 42 percent stated that their income has remained the same and that there is no threat of a decline.
Fifty-seven percent of those whose incomes fell responded by cutting those expenditures that went beyond what was needed to meet basic needs. 19 percent sought state aid. 18 percent were able to compensate for the decline with savings, 16 percent looked for additional work. 13 percent have borrowed money from friends or family, ten percent have borrowed from the bank.
According to the survey, in view of the Covid 19 crisis, two thirds of Austrians are now more willing to support local businesses and companies than they were before the crisis. On average in European countries, this only applies to 59 percent of those surveyed.
To compensate for the difficult year, 12 percent of those surveyed want to spend more money on Christmas gifts this year. About 70 percent, however, reject this idea. However, the survey also found that half of the respondents said they buy fewer gifts now than they did a few years ago because of the rubbish it creates. Almost half (46 percent) said they cut their spending due to their interest in sustainability. This was especially true for younger and female consumers, according to the Intrum survey.
For the prosperity barometer, 1,000 people over the age of 18 were surveyed in 24 European countries and this data was combined with Eurostat information. The research for the study was conducted between August 28 and October 5, 2020.
