Georgina Green and Bruno Albuquerque
How would you respond to a one-off change in your income? For example, how would you react to someone handing you £500? Throughout the pandemic a large group of UK households were asked this hypothetical question in a survey. Households were also asked for other information, for instance about their debt, savings, and expectations for the future, giving us an opportunity to unpick their responses. We might expect households who are concerned about their financial future to be less eager to spend than others, preferring to save up for rainier days. In a new paper, we find the opposite result: concerned households would in fact spend around 20% more than others.
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