Poles do not want to fight for higher salaries. Passivity or realism?

This year, 53 percent Poles do not plan to increase their income – according to a study commissioned by BIG InfoMonitor. At the same time, fewer people than a year ago expect their financial situation to worsen or improve.

In the published information, the authors of the study indicated that 21 percent Poles want to save more money in 2026 than last year, and 23 percent intends to save by reducing everyday expenses. For smaller savings than last year. indicates 6-7 percent people. “Taking into account only people who gave a clear answer to questions about saving, the rate of those planning to increase their savings is 27-29 percent.” – reported the authors.

42 percent Poles do not count on any change in their financial situation

As reported, 42 percent Poles do not count on any change in their financial situation, 17 percent. expects improvement, and 25 percent – deterioration. The percentage of pessimists decreased by 4 percentage points compared to the previous survey, and optimism – by 2 percentage points. The number of people not expecting a change increased by 7 percentage points. Younger respondents are more optimistic, in the 25-34 age group their percentage was 29%. At the same time, 24 percent study participants do not plan any actions to improve their finances. The rest most often declared that they would limit impulsive purchases (44%) or optimize their spending, e.g. by looking for better offers (39%).

Less than half of Poles plan to increase their income in 2026., but 53 percent this is not planned – it is an increase of 4 percentage points year on year; 26 percent are thinking about an additional source of income, and 18 percent – about selling unnecessary things.

“Activities on the expenditure side rather dominate”

According to the main analyst of BIG InfoMonitor, Dr. hab. Waldemar Rogowski, the decline in both optimism and pessimism “indicates cautious expectations and the lack of clear signals of strong improvement or deterioration from the perspective of households.” “Activities on the expenditure side dominate – controlling impulsive purchases, hunting for better, lower prices, rather than on the side of increasing income – work, promotion, changing the employment industry. There is also a low readiness for major structural changes, because only one in ten Poles is considering changing jobs, which may indicate the perceived risk or costs of change, sufficient comfort of the current situation combined with price sensitivity, and the belief that changing jobs would not bring a significant improvement in remuneration,” Rogowski said.

Respondents were also asked about the implementation of financial resolutions they had for 2025. Among 70 percent people who had such plans, 23 percent implemented them in full, 10 percent. not at all, and the rest (37%) – partially. Among the plans for this year, the most frequently mentioned were smaller expenses for various purposes, apart from those for health and physical fitness.

Every third respondent (35%) plans expenses related to the renovation and replacement of home appliances, 33%. want to build a financial cushion for worse times, and 30 percent plans expenses related to holidays; 26 percent there are no specific plans for 2026.

The majority of survey participants indicated that they had no outstanding liabilities, e.g. to banks or friends. In the group, 28 percent having such obligations, 10 percent wants to repay them in full in 2026, and 15 percent – partially.

Few managed to repay their debts

The president of BIG InfoMonitor, Paweł Szarkowski, pointed out that in last year's study, 11 percent people intended to repay their debts in full in 2025. “5 percent of people managed to do this. Only in the 11 months of last year, 123.4 thousand people disappeared from the database of unreliable debtors and thus their total outstanding debt decreased by over PLN 2 billion,” he noted.

BIG InfoMonitor data shows that at the end of November last year over 2.4 million Poles owed over PLN 82.7 billion of non-credit and credit debts. The average overdue debt per person was then PLN 34,000. PLN 288, a year earlier PLN 33,000. PLN 309, and in 2023 PLN 31,000. PLN 449

The study “Financial plans of Poles for 2026” was conducted by Keralla Research on a group of 1,040 people in December 2025 (PAP)

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