Culture — Households | IGCSE Economics

Exam Frequency Analysis

Past paper frequency (2018 to 2024)

This topic accounts for approximately 4% of your exam marks.

new

Rare

New4%

New emphasis in the 2027 syllabus; influences on households' spending, saving and borrowing, including age and culture, are examined directly. Guidance based on specimen materials.

Cultural attitudes and social norms also shape behaviour.

In some cultures, saving is strongly encouraged and borrowing is frowned upon, so households save a high proportion of income.
In others, to buy goods is socially acceptable, so households spend and borrow more and save less.
Social attitudes can also change over time: as it becomes more acceptable to borrow in order to buy items, saving tends to fall.

Exam tip

Discuss whether households will spend more (8 marks)

What comes up: An 8-mark "discuss whether or not" question, often set against a data extract, asking whether a change (a fall in interest rates, rising confidence, an ageing population) will raise household spending.

Write — why it may: lower interest rates cut the cost of borrowing and the reward for saving, so households spend more; rising confidence and rising income both encourage spending and borrowing.

Write — why it may not: if households are worried about future jobs they may save the extra income instead; high existing debt or low confidence can hold spending back; an ageing population may spend cautiously from limited savings.

Watch out: Reach a supported judgement at the end (for example, the effect depends on how confident households are and how indebted they already are). Listing influences without weighing them keeps the answer out of the top level.