WIN International, the world’s leading association in market research and polling, has published the Annual WIN World Survey – WWS 2022 – exploring the views and beliefs of 29,739 individuals among citizens from 36 countries across the globe.
The survey analyzes views and opinions related to the current financial situation of citizens and how they are dealing with inflation and the increase in the cost of leaving.
Financial Situation
The cost of living has increased due to various factors, including COVID-19 and political and economic crises affecting many countries. Many people struggle financially, so much so that only 25% of citizens worldwide are living comfortably. People between the ages of 35 and 44 are among the most affected ones, probably because of the costs related to supporting a family.
We find significant differences according to the educational level of respondents: more than half of the interviewed people (52%) who have basic education or no education have difficulties in paying their bills, while interviewees who have completed higher educational levels (Masters, PHD, etc.) have less difficulties in this regard (25% say they struggle financially).
On a country level, Argentina (76%), Lebanon (69%) and Chile (65%) are among the countries with the highest percentage of population expressing financial difficulties.
The Rising Costs of Living
People around the world have been forced to reduce expenses due to the rising cost of living. In fact, 48% of those surveyed have already reduced some expenses in previous months, with the 45-54 age group being the most affected ones (51%).
On the other hand, 19% of the respondents do not plan to make any changes in their monthly budget, a percentage slightly higher among people over 65 years (24%). Analyzing results by employment status, there is no evidence of significant differences: both full-time employees and unemployed have already made a reduction on their expenses or plan to do so (77% and 79%, respectively).
However, significant differences are registered within countries: for example, people in Greece and Ireland have already cut their spending (both 70%), while only 19% of citizens in Japan have done so.
Vilma Scarpino, WIN President, said:
‘This year, for the first time, the WIN World Survey focuses on the financial situation of citizens. The historical time we’re living, affected by the pandemic, the rising of conflicts in many areas of the world, the climate emergency, and insecurities towards the future, forces us to take increasingly more into consideration people’s social and financial wellbeing as well. Research on many different sectors and aspects of life cannot overlook people’s spending possibilities. And it’s not only about finance: the rising costs of living affect people social wellbeing too.
Interestingly, this study highlights more differences between countries than many others do. While there are some common widely accepted stands (e.g., agreement on climate change is high in every country) the financial situation differ significantly between different parts of the world. WWS data might serve therefore as a starting point for institutions, governments and NGOs to work on improving financial stability.’