Between 2024 and 2026, Zsuzsanna Pósfai will conduct a postdoctoral research project entitled “Household debt in Hungary in an unfolding economic and energy crisis”. The project is funded under the Hungarian National Scientific Research Program (OTKA). 

The research will investigate the patterns of household debt in Hungary, in a period when economic recession and resulting over-indebtedness can be expected. The research relies on statistical data analysis and on expert interviews, and aims to give a temporally and spatially differentiated response to the question of how the currently unfolding economic and energy crisis affects the indebtedness of households in Hungary. 

With regular original data collection on the status of indebtedness and arrears of debt payment, we will grasp an unfolding process which has significant social and economic implications. Outputs include summaries and explanatory visualizations for the wider public, policy recommendations as well as academic papers.