Heterogeneity of Households in the Euro Area, Hungary, and Poland in Terms of the Usage of Financial Assets and Debt on the Basis of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey

This article analyses areas where there are differences in household behaviour in selected countries in terms of financial assets and debt held. The author hypothesizes that although the Euro Area countries share a common monetary policy – which defines some of the financial market conditions and activity of financial institutions – the behaviour of households on financial markets differs considerably. The subject of analysis is the structure of financial instruments held by households and the activity of households on financial markets by age and income. The author also analyses the heterogeneity of households using hierarchical cluster analysis, which shows significant diversity in the percentage of households holding financial assets together with debt as well as diversity in the value of the financial products held by them.