Financial vulnerability of households: evidence for the Basque Country and the rest of Spain

Abstract

One of the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the loss of the main source of income for many households due to the lockdown of the workforce and the suspension of part of the economic activity. The aim of this paper is to analyze the importance of financial literacy and personal experiences with the financial system on financial vulnerability. We show evidence for households in the Basque Country and in comparison with the rest of Spain. Our research shows that controlling for multiple socio-demographic factors, households with lower financial literacy and who had some disagreement with the financial system are more likely to be very vulnerable. These effects are larger in the Basque Country than in the rest of Spain