Quebecers, forced to make choices both at the supermarket and at the car dealership, have never been so stressed… financially. Economic risks are one of the top two sources of concern for almost half of consumers, trumping health for the first time since 2011, according to a study.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Nearly 49% of Quebecers – an increase of 10 points compared to last year – indicated that the economic and financial risks related to the cost of living, the price of gas, interest rates and unemployment ranked among their two main personal concerns, according to the CIRANO 2022 Barometer on risk perception, the results of which are revealed on Tuesday. Health system risks follow at 47%. Environment and energy resources rank third.
“We are at the grocery store, we have to make choices. We are at the dealership, we really have to make choices. At the restaurant, we jump when we see the bill,” illustrates David Dupuis, head of the undergraduate program in economics at the University of Sherbrooke, to explain this anxiety.
We will buy wine by the glass, instead of taking the bottle. We realize that we can’t afford everything as before.
David Dupuis, head of the undergraduate program in economics at the Université de Sherbrooke
“Before, we didn’t look at the price of the house, he also gives as an example. We looked at the monthly payment and we said to ourselves that the rates were low, that the monthly payment suited us even if the price of the house seemed a little high to us. And then we wake up. The nature of the last ten years has nothing to do with economic history in the modern sense of the word. It was really exceptional in terms of interest rates. »
Surprising result
Faced with this new reality, Nathalie de Marcellis-Warin, co-author of the study, believes that there is a certain “logic” in the results obtained which clearly indicate that the economy and finances are of greater concern to Quebecers.
She admits, however, that she was surprised to see an increase in the proportion of people concerned compared to last year, when 39% of respondents said that this issue was their number one concern. And she couldn’t have predicted that finances would outperform health with its emergency room overcrowding, waiting lists and hospital infections.
It’s always been health first. There, it shows that people are concerned about everything that personally affects their wallet, they see it at the pump, they see it at the store, in all their daily activities.
Nathalie de Marcellis-Warin, co-author of the CIRANO 2022 Barometer study
“The whole system worries them,” adds the one who is also a full professor at Polytechnique Montreal and president and director general of the Interuniversity Center for Research in Analysis of Organizations (CIRANO). “It was the first time people saw that things were missing from the stores. These are indicators that will seek them personally. »
Thus, the report indicates that “these transfers of concerns towards economic and financial risks could […] be partly explained by a higher perception of risks than in 2021 for certain issues such as the rise in the cost of living/interest rates (85% of the population perceives high or very high risks associated with this issue, up 21 points compared to 2021), the price of energy (gasoline) (82%, an increase of 23 points) or even access to affordable housing (78%, an increase of 10 points ) or the rise in real estate prices (75%, up 9 points)”.
The young and the wealthy
If youth rhymes with recklessness for many, Nathalie de Marcellis-Warin points out that respondents under the age of 35 are the most concerned about financial issues, a first according to her. Quebecers earning an income of $80,000 or more are also more concerned about these issues (54%) than those whose annual salary is $40,000 or less (42%).
With regard to age, 58% of people aged 18 to 34 placed economic and financial risks among their two main concerns, compared to 49% for those aged 35-54, 44% for those aged 55- 74 years old and 42% among respondents aged 75 and over. The difficulty in finding affordable housing and the rise in house prices explain in particular why the youngest feel financial stress, according to the author.
This reality even seems to be reflected in the classrooms of David Dupuis at the University of Sherbrooke. “Before, students yawned when we talked about inflation. There, they no longer yawn, they wonder what it eats in winter, where it comes from and how they can do to circumvent it. »
Highlights of the CIRANO Barometer 2022 study
49%
This is the proportion of Quebecers who place economic and financial risks among the two risk categories of most concern for themselves. This proportion was 39% last year.
47%
Proportion of Quebecers who place health among the two most worrying risk categories for themselves.
29%
Proportion of Quebecers who place the environment and the risks related to energy resources as one of their two main concerns.
51%
This is the proportion of women who are mainly concerned about health, compared to 42% for men.
85%
Proportion of Quebecers who perceive the rise in the cost of living as a very big risk, compared to 82% for the price of energy.
Source: CIRANO barometer on risk perception in Quebec 2022