Wpływ pandemii COVID-19 na poziom wykluczenia finansowego mieszkańców południowo-wschodniego regionu Polski

Abstract

The main goal of the research was to assess the impact of the pandemic crisis on the level of financial exclusion of the inhabitants of the south-eastern region of Poland and to identify the factors determining this financial exclusion. The detailed scope of the research covers the administrative area of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship. The pandemic period adversely affected many areas of social and economic life. One such area is the level of financial exclusion, which has significantly affected people on low incomes, often living in villages and small towns. South-eastern Poland, including the Podkarpackie Voivodeship, is still one of the economically weaker regions. It should be emphasised that the Podkarpackie Voivodeship has an agricultural and industrial character. It has the largest percentage of people living in villages in the country (58.6%). Following this line of reasoning, the study covered the inhabitants of the Podkarpackie Voivodeship whose places of residence are located in counties with the lowest average monthly gross salary in relation to the national average, and for the purpose of a comparative analysis, inhabitants of the largest voivodeship city – Rzeszów. The research used the diagnostic survey method, and the responses were statistically analysed to observe the relationship between the features: age, sex, education, etc. and a comparative analysis of individual counties. In addition, the method of literature analysis was used, including previous research on similar topics from the period before the pandemic. Based on the research, it can be concluded that people from the counties selected for the study much more often combine financial exclusion with unemployment and low wages. They are concerned about the stability of their income and believe that they are financially excluded. Similar relationships were observed for people over 46 years of age and for people whose average monthly net income per person in the household is less than PLN 1,000.