• According to the 2020 Portuguese Household Finance and Consumption Survey, carried out between October 2020 and February 2021, 69% of households in Portugal considered that their financial situation was similar to that before the pandemic, 28% considered it has worsen and 3% considered it has improved.

• The impact of the pandemic on the financial situation and the income of households was higher in households that depended on labour income before the pandemic.

• Among households whose reference person (who, for most households, is its highest income earner) was working before the pandemic, the reduction in income was more frequent for lower income households, as well as for those where this person has a level of education lower than tertiary education, is self-employed or works in the Accommodation and food service sector.

• Situations of partial reduction in labour income were more frequent than job loss or total reduction in income. The percentage of households in which the reference person faced these different situations was, however, quite different depending on the household type, reaching higher values for those with lower levels of income and education.

• Simplified layoff or support for self-employed workers situations were more frequent in households at intermediate levels of income.

• Most households that experienced a reduction in income due to the pandemic decreased spending on non-durable goods and services. The other most frequent measures to deal with the reduction in income were the use of accumulated savings or the sale of valuable assets, the resort to moratoria on main residence mortgages, the postponement of the purchase of a house, a car or other durable good and help from relatives or friends.