A savings bank study shows that citizens assess their financial situation more poorly than they have in a long time. But although many people are currently having to restrict themselves in everyday life, the outlook for the future is more optimistic.
Acute crisis mood meets cautious optimism: This is how one could title the “Wealth Barometer 2023” of the Savings Banks and Giro Association. The annual survey on the financial situation of citizens produces an interesting picture. While many people assess their current personal financial situation to be even worse than last year, their view of the future is somewhat more positive.
First of all, let’s talk about the bad current situation: 26 percent of those surveyed rate their current financial situation as bad or rather bad. This is not only four percentage points more than in the previous year, it is also the worst value since the financial crisis of 2008. In contrast, there are 34 percent who rate their financial situation as good or very good, compared to 38 percent last year and 43 percent two years ago without money worries. The remaining 40 percent currently rate their finances as neither good nor bad (“It’s working”).
The analysis of different age groups shows: The 40 to 49 year olds are the most dissatisfied, while the very young (14 to 29 years old) and those over 60 have the fewest money worries. 4,800 people aged 14 and over were surveyed in June and July of this year.
Where savings are made in everyday life
Many people experience the tense financial situation due to increased costs in everyday life. 71 percent of those surveyed stated that they had to do without something in the last few months due to inflation – 22 percent of them “to a large extent”. In addition, 61 percent of people have restricted their consumption overall in the past twelve months – the wealth barometer has not measured such a high value since the survey began in 2005.
Specifically, this means: Many people buy cheaper product alternatives (62 percent), heat less or save energy costs in the household in other ways (52 percent) and/or buy less overall (52 percent). In addition, 49 percent cook more at home instead of eating out and 40 percent travel less. All of these values have increased compared to the previous year. An exception is driving a car, where people limit themselves less: only 33 percent say they drive less, compared to 44 percent last year.
What about in two years?
So the Germans are in crisis mode – but the majority remain optimistic. 33 percent of those surveyed believe that their financial situation will improve in the next two years, only 25 percent expect it to get worse (the rest expect the situation to remain the same).
This is a significant improvement in sentiment compared to the previous year’s survey: in 2022, the camp of optimists (32 percent) and that of pessimists (31 percent) were almost equally strong. One in five respondents expects that they will be doing better financially in the next six months.
Source: Stern
