The saving motives of Dutch households : and the effect of individual characteristics on the importance of saving motives

Abstract

I looked at the saving motives of individuals, and which saving motives are the most important for individuals in the Netherlands. I also looked at how individual characteristics can explain how people rate the saving motives of different importance. I started my thesis with a presentation of the concept of saving, and gave an overview of the various definitions of saving motives of individuals. I used the data from a questionnaire conducted in the Netherlands in 2012, and used the replies to questions regarding the saving motives of individuals. Based on the replies to these questions I found the precautionary saving motive to be the most important saving motive for individuals in the Netherlands. The bequest motive, the calculation motive and the enterprise motives are saving motives that are less important for individuals in the Netherlands. Based on the results I found that most people in the Netherlands think it is important to have money saved. There were differences in importance among the different motives for saving. I found that individual characteristics can explain how important people think it is to save money. The most important finding was that women considered the different saving motives as more important than men. I also found that having more kids in the household affects the motives for saving. I also found the importance of saving motives to vary by individuals’ partnership status, ownership of accommodation, age, income and education. I found the results to be interesting, and many of the results in my thesis supports previous work on the area of saving motives.