In the past few months, high inflation has placed a heavier burden on poor households than on the rich, but in April, social differences under inflation narrowed significantly.
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This was the result of a study published today, Friday, by the German Institute for Macroeconomics and Business Cycle Research (IMK), which is affiliated with the Hans Bückler Foundation, which is close to trade unions.
The inflation rate in Germany reached 7.2% in April, which is slightly lower than the previous month.
According to the study, low-income people who live alone still have to bear the brunt of inflation by up to 8.1%. In contrast, those living alone with very high incomes would have a lower inflation burden of 6.2%.
--The social gap in inflation is thus estimated at 1.9 percentage points. For comparison: the gap was estimated last March at 2.4 percentage points.
The study attributed the reason why poor households are particularly affected by inflation to the continued linkage of major price drivers, such as household energy and food, to their shopping baskets.
Low-income families also had to endure an above-average inflation rate of 7.6% in April. According to the study, during the period between February 2022 and February 2023, these families had to bear the greatest burden compared to the rest of the families, and in the first two months of 2023 they had to bear the greatest burden with low-income people living alone.
The study attributed the decline in the disparity to the recent decline in fuel prices, which was mathematically reflected in household expenditures. At the same time, poor bachelors rarely own a car, which is why they have low inflation.
