Financial Fears amongst Czechs: Job Loss and High Inflation

High inflation has significantly affected Czechs’ financial fears. The possibility of a sharp increase in energy and food prices continues to worry them. However, the fear of job loss and, for the younger generation, the transition into independent life or breaking up with their partner also plays a significant role.

This is according to a survey by Provident Financial. Almost a fifth of working-age people fear job loss or other income loss. However, forty percent of people over 45 fear job loss, and only three percent fear long-term work incapacity.

“People who already have many financial commitments, such as a mortgage and family, naturally fall into this demographic group and are also approaching the peak of their productive age, in which they can perceive job loss as a major problem,” comments Barbora Pencová, HR Director of Provident Financial.

For people over fifty, job loss can be a significant blow to their career and personal life. “These are often people who have already reached the peak of their career, and changing jobs was not their choice. When looking for a new job, however, they may paradoxically encounter their qualification or excessive experience,” says Barbora Švarcbachová from the Genixa organization, which helps disadvantaged groups of people in the labor market.

Younger people mainly worry about financial commitments and economic independence from their families. A quarter of people in the age group of 27 to 35 identified indebtedness in the form of a mortgage or loan as the feared financial challenge of the future. In the age category of 18 to 26, such fears exist among 23 percent.