The Paper Pile at Home: Adopting Personal Electronic Records

Research has found that if respondents do not manage their personal records such as bills, receipts and tax-related documents efficiently, they risk not being able to re-find them when needed, resulting in significant problems. A significant gap in understanding and addressing this problem stems from a lack of knowledge of the format of these records, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, that may have caused an increase in managing personal records in an electronic format, rather than by hardcopy. This paper provides results of quantitative research conducted in 2018, thereby providing a valuable benchmark for future research on the same and related topics. This measurement was achieved by means of an online survey distributed via social media amongst 205 respondents. The results revealed that nearly all respondents (97%) retained at least some records, and more than 80% kept some of those records in an electronic format, particularly travel reservations and payslips. Conversely, only 10% of respondents kept receipts and warranties for appliances or medical records in an electronic format. The reason for these differences in propensity of keeping various records in an electronic or hardcopy format will require further research.