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COVID-19 and the increase in household savings: precautionary or forced?

Author

Listed:
  • Dossche, Maarten
  • Zlatanos, Stylianos

Abstract

In response to COVID-19 the euro area household saving rate reached unprecedented levels in the first half of 2020. First, lockdown measures prohibited households from consuming a large share of their normal expenditure basket, leading to forced savings. Second, the sudden outbreak of the pandemic caused the risk of future unemployment to shoot up, leading to precautionary savings. Using a parsimonious panel model this box finds that forced savings have been the main driver of the recent spike in household savings. Despite these accumulated savings, however, households remain cautious about their future spending. JEL Classification: E21, E32

Suggested Citation

  • Dossche, Maarten & Zlatanos, Stylianos, 2020. "COVID-19 and the increase in household savings: precautionary or forced?," Economic Bulletin Boxes, European Central Bank, vol. 6.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecb:ecbbox:2020:0006:5
    Note: 3577821
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Paolo Fegatelli, 2021. "The one trillion euro digital currency: How to issue a digital euro without threatening monetary policy transmission and financial stability?," BCL working papers 155, Central Bank of Luxembourg.
    2. Jung, Haeil & Kim, Jun Hyung & Hong, Gihyeon, 2023. "Impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on single-person households in South Korea," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    3. Ana Lucia Luis & Natalia Teixeira & Rui Braz, 2023. "Portuguese Households Savings in Times of Pandemic: A Way to Better Resist the Escalating Inflation?," Papers 2304.02573, arXiv.org.
    4. Elisa Guglielminetti & Concetta Rondinelli, 2021. "Consumption and saving patterns in Italy during Covid-19," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 620, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    5. Lorenzo Pozzi & Barbara Sadaba, 2021. "Macroeconomic disasters and consumption smoothing," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 21-030/VI, Tinbergen Institute.
    6. Haertel, Thomas & Hamburg, Britta & Kusin, Vladimir, 2022. "The macroeconometric model of the Bundesbank revisited," Technical Papers 01/2022, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    7. Fegatelli, Paolo, 2022. "A central bank digital currency in a heterogeneous monetary union: Managing the effects on the bank lending channel," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    8. Martin Schneider & Richard Sellner, 2022. "Private consumption and savings during the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q4/21, pages 43-59.
    9. Mariella Nenova, 2022. "Households’ Consumption Pattern and Saving – Evidence for the First Year of the Covid-19 Pandemic in Bulgaria," Economic Studies journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 3-22.
    10. Ana del Río & José Antonio Cuenca, 2020. "Euro area household income and saving during the first wave of the pandemic," Economic Bulletin, Banco de España, issue 4/2020.
    11. Antonio Chirumbolo & Antonino Callea & Flavio Urbini, 2021. "The Effect of Job Insecurity and Life Uncertainty on Everyday Consumptions and Broader Life Projects during COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-20, May.
    12. Lorenzo Pozzi & Barbara Sadaba, 2023. "Macroeconomic Disasters and Consumption Smoothing: International Evidence from Historical Data," Staff Working Papers 23-4, Bank of Canada.
    13. Christian Ragacs & Richard Sellner & Klaus Vondra, 2021. "Economic recovery aided by coronavirus vaccine rollout. Economic outlook for Austria from 2021 to 2023 (June 2021)," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q2/21, pages 81-115.
    14. Hong Kong Monetary Authority, 2022. "Riding out the Covid-19 challenge under a currency board arrangement: Hong Kong SAR’s experience," BIS Papers chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), The monetary-fiscal policy nexus in the wake of the pandemic, volume 122, pages 129-136, Bank for International Settlements.
    15. Gropp, Reint & McShane, William, 2021. "Why are households saving so much during the corona recession?," IWH Policy Notes 1/2021, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    16. Dimitris Anastasiou & Panayotis Kapopoulos & Kalliopi-Maria Zekente, 2023. "Sentimental Shocks and House Prices," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 67(4), pages 627-655, November.
    17. Evangelos Charalambakis & Federica Teppa & Athanasios Tsiortas, 2024. "Consumer participation in the credit market during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond," Working Papers 807, DNB.
    18. Jakub Borowski & Krystian Jaworski, 2023. "Economic and behavioral determinants of forced household savings during the COVID-19 pandemic," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 50(1), pages 237-253, February.
    19. Luc Meunier & Sima Ohadi, 2021. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Crisis on Individuals' Risk and Time Preferences," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 41(3), pages 1050-1069.
    20. Doris Prammer, 2021. "Unprecedented fiscal (re)actions to ease the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria," Monetary Policy & the Economy, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank), issue Q4/20-Q1/, pages 153-173.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    business cycle fluctuations; Consumption;

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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