How did COVID affect savings and wealth? An empirical study in South Africa

Amy Jansen () and Robert Lensink
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Amy Jansen: Faculty of Economics and Business, Department of Economics, Econometrics and Finance

The Journal of Economic Inequality, 2024, vol. 22, issue 3, No 9, 757-780

Abstract: Abstract By using a unique dataset of more than 20,000 individuals with savings accounts from August 2019 to October 2020 in South Africa, this paper examines how the COVID crisis has affected savings behavior, and by affecting savings, impacted wealth inequality. We find that while COVID increased savings on average, the increase in average savings is due to a small group of higher income savers which substantially increased their savings, while a large group stopped saving.

Keywords: Household savings; Wealth inequality; Financial decision making; Crisis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1007/s10888-023-09613-6

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