A large majority of people across 11 countries feel pessimistic and weighed down by external economic and political forces
In the face of a cost-of-living crisis, a new Ipsos survey conducted jointly with the World Economic Forum indicates significant levels of public economic pessimism in 11 countries.
Across the nations surveyed, 25% of public respondents said they are finding it quite or very difficult to manage financially in the current environment.
The poll reveals the general forecast for the year to be pessimistic. Only three countries — the United States, Australia, and Canada – have more people expecting their quality of living to improve rather than fall in the coming year.
In terms of expectations, from their own standard of living, 9% of Canadians say that it will rise a lot, 18% see a little improvement, 49% predict it will stay about the same, and 23% say that it will fall by some measure.
Price increases are also expected, particularly in grocery shopping and the cost of utilities like gas and electricity. Among Canadians, 54% responded that they are concerned about their ability to pay their bills over the next half of the year, while 46% are not at all or barely concerned.
Food price increases would have the greatest impact on households' quality of life in most nations, including the United States, Canada, Italy, Japan, Australia, Poland, and Turkey.
An increase in utility bills would have the greatest impact in the remaining four countries (Britain, Italy, Germany, and Spain).
When it comes to growing expenses, the most typical public response is to decrease expenditure rather than change behavior.
Spending less on socializing (44%), deferring significant purchase decisions (41%), and spending less on non-food home shopping are the top three actions people say they would take if they could no longer afford their typical lifestyle due to price increases (38%).
For Canadians, the top three major changes in expenditures would be on food shopping (83%), other household shopping (77%), cost of utilities and fuel (75%).
In reaction to the growing cost of living, few people say they would ask for a raise or seek a higher-paying job.
Spending less time socializing (45%), using less heating, electricity, and water (34%), and spending less money on meals all rank lower (27%).
Only 16% of those employed in the 11 countries say they would hunt for higher-paying job elsewhere, while 11% say they would ask their current employer for a raise.
In most countries, the public believes that external and global factors are driving rising inflation. Overall, the public believes that the state of the global economy is contributing a great deal or a fair amount to rising living costs (77%), followed by the consequences of Russia's invasion of Ukraine (76%) and the COVID-19 pandemic (72%).
Most Canadians also regard the COVID-19 pandemic (79%) and the state of the global economy (78%) as the primary driving force. Additionally, Canada sees the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its consequences (71%) and federal government’s policies (65%) as primary reasons behind the relentless increase in prices.
