Half of Romanians believe that the state should help them regardless of the situation, and more than half believe that the government should raise wages even if the economy is in decline, 20% more than 10 years ago, according to the survey conducted by INSCOP commissioned by News.ro .

Compared to 10 years ago, the percentage of those who believe that in crisis situations it is necessary to help themselves first, and only then to ask for state support, has increased. These are people with a higher level of education, residents of large cities, those with a higher income, and employees. privately Similarly, the share of those who would decide to save if they had extra money increased from 63% in 2013 to 76.3% in 2023. Two-thirds of respondents say they prefer to buy Romanian products, even if they are more expensive, which is a trend. Director General of INSCOP Research Remus Ştefureac qualified as “a possible form of economic patriotism”.

The number of Romanians who prefer a well-paid but unstable job decreased slightly in September 2023 compared to February 2013, from 52% to 51.8%, increasing the number of those who prefer a stable but poorly paid job, 48% – 48.2%.

Socio-demographic analysis shows that they declare that they prefer unstable but well-paid work, especially: men, young people under 30, inactive potentially active, residents of Bucharest or big cities, private workers. Women, people over 45 years old, residents of rural areas, public sector employees in a higher proportion than the average for the population said that they prefer stable, but low-paid work.

Compared to 10 years ago, the number of those who believe that the government should help them regardless of the situation has increased from 42% to 50%, and the number of those who believe that the government should help only when they need it , decreased to 58% to 50%.

According to the socio-demographic analysis, I believe that “the state is obliged to help them in any situation”, especially: young people, people with a low level of education, inactive, potentially active, low-income, urban residents. . People over 45 years old, persons with higher education, employees, residents of Bucharest, public sector employees to a greater extent than other categories of the population believe that “the state should help only when it needs it.”

However, compared to 10 years ago, the percentage of those who believe that in crisis situations one should first help oneself and only then ask for state support has increased significantly, from 72% to 81.7%, while the number of supporters of the idea that ” In crisis situations, I should first ask for state support, and only then help myself,” from 29% to 18.3%.

I agree with the statement “In crisis situations, I should first help myself, and only then ask for support from the state”, especially: people with higher education, residents of large cities, those with higher incomes, employees. privately Young people under 30 years of age, people with a low level of education, low-income people, residents of small towns more often than the rest of the population express their agreement with the statement “In crisis situations, I should first of all seek support. the state, and only then to help themselves”, – the results of the socio-demographic analysis.

The percentage of those who 10 years ago believed that the government should raise wages even if the economy was in decline was 36%, now it has increased to 55.3%, while the percentage of those who believe the opposite has decreased from 64% to 44.7%.

Socio-demographic analysis shows that this opinion is held by women, people under 45 years of age, people with a low level of education, potentially active inactive, working people, rural residents, low-income people, budget employees. that “the government should raise wages even if the economy is in decline” to a greater extent than the rest of the population. He believes that “the government should not raise wages when the economy is down”, especially: men, people with higher education, white-collar workers, residents of Bucharest, those with a higher income.

Romanians are less willing than 10 years ago to buy consumer goods to make their lives easier if they had extra money, falling from 37% in 2013 to 23.7% in 2023. Conversely, those who would choose environmental commitments if they had the extra money rose from 63% in 2013 to 76.3% in 2023.

Young people under 30 and people with lower incomes say they would prefer to buy consumer goods to make their lives easier at a higher rate than average. Socio-demographic analysis shows that they would prefer to save for hard times, especially residents of big cities and budget workers.

In addition, 67% of respondents prefer to buy Romanian products even if they are more expensive, while 33% choose products with the best price, regardless of whether they are Romanian or foreign.

“INSCOP Research tested a series of values ​​and social perceptions of the population, applying the same questions in September 2013 as part of the Barometer “Truth about Romania”, respectively in September 2023 as part of a survey conducted jointly with News. ro. The results show that they have undergone various changes over the past 10 years. Alternative options for stable but poorly paid work, respectively, unstable but well-paid work, have remained completely stable over the past 10 years.

On the other hand, against the background of a period marked by acute socio-economic difficulties, today we see an increase, compared to the situation 10 years ago, in the share of Romanians who believe that the state has an obligation to help in any situation. However, the share of those who believe that in a crisis situation one should first help oneself, and only then turn to the state for help, has increased, which indicates the strengthening of individual resilience. The biggest difference from 10 years ago is in the expectation that wages will rise even if the economy is in decline, in that a significantly higher percentage than in 2013 now said the government should raise wages even when the economy is down.

The explanation can be linked to the persistence of economic problems, inflation, which is putting more and more pressure on the financial situation of the population. Also, in 2023 compared to 2013, the share of those who prefer to save if they have additional income increased significantly. Finally, paradoxically in the context of the economic and social crisis, two thirds of Romanians said they prefer to buy Romanian products, even if they are more expensive than foreign ones. The responses indicate a possible form of economic patriotism, as well as a widespread perception that Romanian products, especially food products, are of better quality than imported ones,” says INSCOP Research Director Remus Štefureac.

The survey was conducted by INSCOP Research on behalf of News.ro. Data were collected from September 15 to 22 using the CATI method (telephone interviews). The size of the simple stratified sample is 1550 people, representative of significant socio-demographic categories (gender, age, profession) for the non-institutionalized population of Romania aged 18 and over. The maximum allowable data error is ± 2.49% with a confidence level of 95%.