When the inflation data for September comes out in a few days, one thing is likely to remain unchanged: that inflation is high. It probably even increased because both the tank discount and the nine-euro ticket expired at the end of August. Gasoline and train travel became significantly more expensive as a result. Consumer prices are still hitting Germans. And as new calculations show, some people are still particularly affected.
Low-income families feel the heaviest burden. According to the Institute for Macroeconomics and Business Cycle Research (IMK), they had to pay 8.8 percent more for their usual expenses in August than a year earlier. That was significantly more than the official inflation rate, i.e. the consumer price index for all households, which was 7.9 percent in August compared to the same month last year. In this group, which depicts couple families with two children and a net income of 2,000 to 2,600 euros per month, funds are tight anyway. If they are also overly affected by price increases, it makes life particularly difficult for them.
The inflation monitor of the IMK Institute shows again that there are quite a few differences in Germany. Even single parents with low incomes spend more on their usual expenses than the official rate of inflation would suggest. The price increases also hit couples with or without children and middle incomes above average.
It is very different for those who earn the most. Well-earning singles who have more than 5000 euros net per month only feel an individual inflation rate of 6.7 percent. This is significantly less than general inflation and by far the lowest value in society as a whole.
The difference in individual exposure increased even more in August
Where do the differences come from? “The biggest price drivers are energy and food,” says IMK scientist Silke Tober. “And these make up a larger proportion of the purchases of low- to middle-income households than those of the wealthy.” Restaurant visits or other leisure expenses, on the other hand, play a smaller role for low-income earners.
The different consumption patterns mean that families with high incomes are less affected by price increases than those with little income. Your individual burden corresponds to general inflation. This also means that they notice the high prices more than single people who earn a lot.
8.8 percent individual inflation for low-income families versus 6.7 percent for high-income singles: the gap between the two extremes widened in August. The IMK Institute, which is close to the trade union, has also determined for whom the individual price increase in August has particularly increased: for singles with low earnings. The fact that the unbeatably cheap nine-euro ticket expired in September probably increased their burden.
The federal government has decided on a third relief package that is intended to help citizens in the face of the price shock. Overall, it should even be larger than the first two packages. But how much does it help those in Germany who need it most? IMK Director Sebastian Dullien says: “New price increases are foreseeable for the fall, especially for gas.” So far, not all energy price increases have been passed on to customers. In addition, from October there will be the gas surcharge, which will place an additional burden on households despite the reduction in VAT. “Consumer prices for natural gas could rise by a good 15 percent simply by combining both measures,” says Dullien.
This development could increase the social gap, because people with little money spend a disproportionately large amount on energy and feel the price increases particularly. The measures announced by the federal government go “largely in the right direction” for Dullien. In order to curb the social gap in inflation, the government must consistently introduce energy price brakes. By this Dullien means the announced price brake for electricity and the planned gas price cap: “How inflation develops from a social perspective depends heavily on whether the government designs these two instruments effectively.”