Wedding? Communion? More and more Poles say: I can't afford it

Due to rising living expenses, approximately 40 percent of Poles are resigning from participating in weddings organized in the spring, and almost one in three will refuse an invitation to a communion or baptism - according to the IBRiS study. Guests most often want to spend between PLN 401 and PLN 750 on a gift for the newlyweds.

For financial reasons, 40% of respondents do not intend to participate in ceremonies such as weddings; 32% will give up communion, and 29% will give up christenings. Weddings are most often cancelled by people aged 30-39 (46%) and 50-59 (44%), residents of medium-sized towns (44%) and villages (42%).

Poles were also asked about their budget for gifts. In the case of weddings, the largest percentage, 28%, declare an amount from PLN 401 to PLN 750, and 24% - from PLN 201 to PLN 400; 13% plan to spend PLN 751-100, 8% between PLN 1,001 and PLN 1,500, and 4% from PLN 1,501 to PLN 2,000.

"Participating in family celebrations is an important matter for Poles, but as the study shows, there is a large group of people who decide not to participate due to insufficient finances," noted Marek Lewandowski from Santander Consumer Bank, quoted in the information.

The majority of people (18%) want to spend between PLN 401 and PLN 500 on gifts for communion and christening. The respondents indicated the following amounts: from PLN 201 to PLN 300 (16%), PLN 301 to PLN 400 and PLN 101 to PLN 200 (14% each). 7% plan to spend between PLN 501 and PLN 600, 6% up to PLN 100, 3% from PLN 601 to PLN 700. 1% of respondents want to spend more than PLN 1,000.

Lewandowski pointed out that the amount of planned expenses varies depending on place of residence and age.

"The most popular amount of PLN 401-750 was most often indicated by the youngest aged 18-29 (31%) and the oldest aged 60+ (30%)," he noted. He added that the higher range, from PLN 751 to PLN 100, was most often indicated by people aged 40-49 (18%) and residents of large cities (19%).

The study, commissioned by Santander Consumer Bank, was conducted by the Institute for Market and Social Research (IBRiS) on April 2-10, 2025, on a sample of 1,000 adult Poles. (PAP)

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