Survey results from Biecz 2008

111 students from Zespó ł Szkó ł Zawodowych in Biecz took part in this survey during first two weeks of March Graphs and comments presented in further parts of this presentation show its results.

1. How much money do you spend on average per month? Majority of students from our school spend less than 25 Euro a month and a quarter of them spend between 26 and 50 Euro which is not much. It is probably caused by the fact that they don’t work and come from families with average family income of around 500 Euro, where frequently only one parent has a job.

2. What do you most frequently spend your money on? Three most important areas of spending are mobile phones, nutrition and cosmetics (around 16% each) and the other areas are divided proportionally (around 9% each)

3. Where do you do your shopping? Most popular shopping places are traditional shops and shopping centres. Second important ‘place” is the Internet, which importance is still growing, as prices of goods bought in virtual shops are attractive and lower than in traditional shops.

4. What influences your decision to buy something? Necessity and price-quality rapport are most important factors which Polish teenagers take into consideration when buying things. Fashion and parents with 16% are third important factors.

5. What limits your spendings? Things which most strongly limit consumer behaviour are prices, savings and income scarcity. Low income and savings put together give more than 50%. Family factors are also a reason for spendings’ limitation for 14% of our students.

6.1. Religion influences consumer behavior of young people Upbringing influences consumer behavior of young people. They are however quite sure that upbringing influences that behaviour. Polish young people’s opinions whether religion influences their consumer behaviour are divided. More than a half don’t think that religion influences it, but a quarter of them says yes and nearly a quarter are not sure.

6.4. You would be able to commit a crime for the sake of money The environment (place where people live) influences consumer behavior of young people. They are also very sure that the environment influences their consumer behaviour. They wouldn’t be able to commit a crime in order to get money.

6.5. You have already committed a crime because of money. Only 5% of them have already committed a crime because of money. The rest never committed a crime in this case.

7. Are you able to control your need to borrow money? Almost everybody is able to control their need to borrow money.

8. What part of your money is borrowed? Young people try to avoid borrowing money. 67% never borrow it and a little more than a quarter borrow 25% of their money.

9. What did you need the money for? The borrowed money was spent in similar proportions as it happened with their own money. Mobile phones, nutrition and cosmetics were most important ones.

10. Has anything changed since you have borrowed money? Nothing has changed since borrowing money with 83% of the respondents.

I have to limit my spending. I sometimes argue with my parents about money. And even more don’t quarrel with their parents about the money. More than a half of them don’t have to limit their spending.

I don`t enjoy doing things because I have to limit my spending. My academic performance has deteriorated since I have a part-time job. Great majority of them don’t have a part-time job, so it doesn’t influence their academic performance. They also don’t have to limit their spending on what they like doing.

11. Have you ever been in a situation when you were unable to repay the money you had borrowed? 64% of youngsters don’t borrow money, 28 % always pay it back and only 8% failed to pay it back and 2% of the whole had problems with their family or other people.

12. Imagine you have borrowed money. How strong would be your agreement with the following statements? It is very important for me to be able to pay back my debts as soon as possible Polish students think it is very important to be ale to pay the money back if it was borrowed.

It is absolutely normal to be in debt nowadays I have already thought about how to get some money to be able to pay back my debts faster The opinion that it is normal to be in debt nowadays divided the responding group almost into halves. More than a half of them thought about how to get money to pay back their debts faster.

If I can`t pay back the money myself, my parents will do it for me. Even when I`m in debt, I think about spending more money. Young people don’t expect their parents to pay their debts and they know that their parents wouldn’t do it for them (more than 60%). Nearly 90% wouldn’t spend more money if they were indebted.

I think it`s ok to be in debt, because my parents are also indebted. As long as the person who has lent me money doesn`t ask to get it back, I don`t remember to pay it back. For Polish youth it is not OK to be in dept because of their parents’ example – 83%. They also remember to pay back their borrowed money (nearly 80%), but almost 20% would do it when they are asked to pay it back.

I`m worried that I won`t be able to pay off my debts. More than a half young people are sure that they will be able to pay back their debts whereas the rest might have problems with doing so.

13. In order to satisfy a need of consumption which exceeds your budget, which do you prefer: saving (to be able to fulfill your need soon) or borrowing the necessary money? Saving is the best way to satisfy a need of consumption for 90% of the people. Only 10% would borrow money.

14. Have you saved any money? Almost 80% save money.

15. What have you saved money for? Again, mobile phones are at the first place as the reason for saving money. Other important things are cosmetics, fashion and entertainment.

16. How do you save your money? Piggybank is the most popular method of saving money (38%). Second place is occupied by savings book (15%) and third by cheque account (10%). Parents also save money for 10% of the people.

17. Do you sense that you are protected as a consumer? In this question students’ opinion is divided. 54% feel protected as a consumer and the remainiong 46% say no here.

18. Which of the following means of protection mostly impact you? School education has the greatest impact on young people in feeling a protected consumer. Next come advertising campaigns with 21% and state institutions and law with 20%. Written warnings influence 18% and informational campaigns 16%.

19. How many people live in your city? As we can see three quarters of students who answered the questionnaire come from settlements under 5000 people, which is villages around Biecz. 15% come from towns between 5000 and 20000, which is Biecz itself. 4% are from towns between and , which is Gorlice or Jas ł o. The rest answers are probably jokes as we don’t have students from cities above inhabitants in our school.

20. How many people live in your household? In almost every household there are more than four people living. It is normal in this part of Poland that all family generations live in the same household.

21. What is your family income? Nearly 50% of families earn less than 500 Euro, which is a bit surprising, but can be explained by the fact that there is high unemployment and it is an agricultural area where frequently only one parent has a job and the other cares about the household. 30% of the families earn between 500 and 1000 euro which is usually a case when both parents work. 9% have income between 1000 and 2000 Euro which is a qiute good income as for Polish conditions. Families with higher income ranges belong 4% groups for each range.

22. How big is your monthly income? Young people’s income is usually under 25 Euro - 65%. 26% have income between 25 and 50 Euro. 4% claim income between 50 and 100 Euro and the same number claim income of above 200 Euro. Only 1% have income between 100 and 200 Euro.

23. Which is the main source of income supporting your personal expenses? For 70% young people parents are the main source of their income. Only 17% work to earn some money. 6% receive money from relatives, 4% receive allowances, 1% get scholarship and 2% earn money on bank interests.

24. What age are you? Here we have age ranges of those who answered our questionnaire. 1% are 15 years old, 4% are 16, 32% are 17, 25% are 18, 16% are 19 and 22% are 20.

25. What is your sex? 62% respondents were girls and 38% were boys.

26. Where are you from? And all of them come from Poland.

This project is realised with the financial support received from the European Commission within the Comenius Lifelong Learning Programme. The content of the publication is the sole responsibility of its publisher(s), and it in no way represents the views of the European Commission or its services. THANK YOU