Status: 07/07/2022 1:38 p.m
According to the IMK Institute, the sharp rise in prices for energy and food is dampening the impact of the federal government’s relief packages. An imbalance arises above all in the case of pensioners.
According to the Institute for Macroeconomics and Business Cycle Research (IMK) of the union-affiliated Hans Böckler Foundation, the inflation rate is increasingly dampening the impact of the federal government’s relief package. The bottom line is that the measures taken by the traffic light coalition of the SPD, Greens and FDP would help those in employment and people with basic security; for pensioners, however, there is an imbalance.
Less relief for families than hoped
According to this, the relief for a family with two working adults, two children and a below-average monthly net income of 2000 to 2600 euros added up to around 64 percent of the foreseeable additional burdens. In April, however, the researchers had still expected that 90 percent would be compensated.
For a comparable family with an average net income of 3,600 to 5,000 euros, it is 54 percent – and thus less than the 77 percent forecast in the spring. According to the IMK experts, the current relief packages of around 30 billion euros have “generally resulted in extensive and socially balanced relief” for those in employment and recipients of social benefits, but there is a “social imbalance” among those who are not employed, especially pensioners “. The relief effect for singles who are retired and have a low net income of less than 900 euros per month is just ten percent. Around 46 percent would be compensated if such households were entitled to housing benefit.
Here the federal government must be ready to top it up again for the coming year. The IMK is forecasting a drop in the inflation rate from just under seven percent this year to just under three percent in 2023. “This means that prices, especially for basic necessities, will remain high and there will also be a considerable additional burden in the coming year.”
Parts of the relief package
As the core of the relief package, the federal government had decided on an energy allowance of 300 euros, which is to be paid out once as a salary allowance to all employees who are subject to income tax. Pensioners, for example, are excluded from this.
Families also receive a one-time bonus of EUR 100 for each child. The 9-euro monthly ticket for local public transport and the reduction in fuel tax are also part of the federal government’s package.