Insee Analyses · December 2023 · n° 90

Household finance on a day‑to-day basis

In the first eight months of 2023 as in 2002, 25% of banking customers at La Banque Postale have experienced at least some overdraft spell during 3 consecutive months (a slightly lower share than the one that prevailed before the COVID‑19 pandemics). Single parents and households with earnings being mostly welfare benefits are twice as much exposed to that risk of incurring such a precarious financial situation.

On average, 25% of households with regular earnings (wages, pensions, unemployment or welfare benefits) experience some overdraft spell the day before payday. All categories of households are exposed to such a risk, including those on high incomes; that risk is yet higher for low‑income households, especially for those with earnings being mostly welfare benefits. The day following payday, households’ card payments are twice as high on average as during a regular day; for the bottom 25% of income, they are 3.6 times as high as during a regular day.