Impact of COVID-19 on Household’s Financial Situation in Poland

Purpose: The main purpose of the article was to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the financial situation of households in Poland. This goal was supplemented with the main hypothesis, auxiliary hypotheses and research questions. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research was conducted in February 2021 by means of an questionnaire survey on a group of 1000 randomly selected Polish residents. The questionnaire was developed in the form of 19 record and substantive single or multiple choice questions. Another method that was used for the research was the review and analysis of bibliographic resources. Findings: The empirical results show that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the financial situation of households in Poland has slightly deteriorated. Nearly 2/3 of the respondents were negatively affected by the financial effects of the pandemic to a small or medium degree. In 1/4 of the respondents, there was a marked reduction in income related to the pandemic crisis. It is worth noting the change in Poles' attitude to saving. The unpredictability of the pandemic crisis resulted in a significant reduction in purchasing expenses in more than half of the respondents, and nearly three quarters of them began to carefully plan their expenses. Two-thirds of respondents believe that one of the ways to protect themselves against another crisis caused by a pandemic, or another genesis of a phenomenon, is to save money. Practical Implications: With the pandemic, the approach of Polish households to collecting savings and spending money has changed. This informs potential entities and institutions offering their goods that they should remodel their offers and adapt them to the prevailing conditions on the Polish market. Originality/Value: Unique, authorial survey conducted on a representative research sample, dealing with current issues, concerning not only Poland, but also the entire world. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are described and the impact of respondent characteristics on the financial extent impact of the economic downturn is analyzed.