2024-07-28 04:33:17
Inflation in recent years has caused many people to suffer, and the traffic light coalition countered this with relief measures. Nevertheless, many families lost purchasing power, as a study shows.
According to a study by the Hans Böckler Foundation, the relief policy of the traffic light coalition has brought less to most families in Germany than to singles and childless couples. According to the study, the purchasing power of middle-income families has fallen since 2021, while people with low or high incomes have gained purchasing power.
The study by the Institute for Macroeconomics and Business Cycle Research (IMK) of the Böckler Foundation looks at the consequences of the so-called bracket creep in the period from 2021 to 2024. With this problem, a salary increase is eaten up by inflation, people pay more taxes and their own purchasing power decreases.
The traffic light coalition has tried to compensate for the bracket creep, for example by implementing tax relief and increasing child benefit – but the latter was too weak, according to the study. According to the Böckler Foundation, the state has compensated for the bracket creep for most employees in the period from 2021 to 2024, but middle-class families fared relatively poorly in terms of the support measures.
For the study, sample calculations were carried out which showed that childless singles and childless couples were better off than before. The bracket creep was overcompensated for them and the purchasing power of these groups was higher in 2024 than in 2021. Low earners also had more than before, as their burden was significantly reduced.
Families with a middle income, on the other hand, fared badly: a family with two children, in which both parents work and together have an annual gross income of 58,990 euros, had to accept a loss of purchasing power of 492 euros – the consequences of the high inflation were therefore not offset. A single parent with one child who earns 43,693 euros gross also had to accept a loss: after deducting inflation, she will have 316 euros less at her disposal in 2024 than in 2021.
Families who earn very well, on the other hand, can be happy about the effects of the traffic light measures: For a couple with two children with a gross annual income of 154,912 euros, a purchasing power gain of 992 euros has been calculated since 2021.
According to the study, poorer people also benefited: a single person who earns 16,095 euros gross per year has an increase of 457 euros. In general, things are looking good for single people without children: a single person with a gross income of 45,725 euros per year has 100 euros more in their coffers after deducting inflation than they did three years ago.
Study author Sebastian Dullien expressed criticism. “I think it is a social imbalance that middle-income families have not been sufficiently relieved.” The traffic light coalition could quickly remedy this by increasing child benefit more than previously planned. At the turn of the year, it is to rise by five euros to 255 euros per month. “Five euros is too little,” says Dullien. Child benefit has not been increased enough since 2021 to offset inflation.