Consumption expenditures of Moldovan citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic period: gender analysis

Abstract

In 2020, due to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic, various measures were taken to contain its spread and protect the population from infection. These measures have limited economic activity to a certain extent, which has required cost reductions, including personnel, rent and administrative costs, curtailing the work/production program, postponing current and/or strategic investments, or even shutting down economic activity altogether. All this led to a decrease in the disposable income of the population and, accordingly, to a decrease in consumption expenditures. Even if the disposable income of some part of the population has remained at the previous level or increased during the pandemic, fears about the directions of future social and economic development may also influence consumption expenditures in the direction of restriction. Like other countries, the Republic of Moldova also did not miss such a development. But the main goal of the conducted research was to determine the directions of changes in the evolution of consumer spending of the population of the Republic of Moldova precisely in the gender aspect, because gender differences are inherent in consumer behavior. And although certain studies were conducted in the Republic of Moldova that highlighted certain aspects of the evolution of consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic, they focused on the general consumption behavior of the population or on specific groups of products and services and were not marked by gender sensitivity. Therefore, this article presents a gender analysis of consumption expenditures by citizens of Moldova on a wide variety of products and services, which were divided into groups: food products; clothing and luxury items; durable goods; other consumer goods; medicine and health care; dwelling; sports and recreation; transportation. The data was collected as a result of a sociological survey conducted by the authors. The analysis of the survey data showed that, in general, there was an increase in expenditures among men, and a decrease among women for most types of goods and services.