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Inflation – extra burden and relief for family households

Client

Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (BMFSFJ)

Year

2022

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Background

The inflation rate in Germany has been rising since the spring of 2021. This development has intensified further since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and as a result of sanctions against Russia and production cuts in Ukraine. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the inflation rate in 2022 was 7.9 per cent; a level last reached in 1981. Between 2010 and 2020, inflation in Germany fluctuated between 0.5 and 2.1 percent.

The inflation in prices has resulted in an additional financial burden on private households. The extent to which they are affected depends on their income level and the number of persons living in the household. Our family policy team has analysed the additional burden for single persons, single parents, and couples with and without children.

Our approach

Firstly, the paper provides an estimate of the household-specific extra burden in absolute amounts in euros. The calculations are based on consumption data from the current income and consumption survey (EVS) from 2018 and the development of the Federal Statistical Office’s consumer price index for 2022 compared with the previous year. Included are simplified data for the central expenditure areas of the EVS. There was no differentiation by category of goods within the spending areas.

Selected core results

The absolute monthly increase in household expenses ranges from an average of 118 euros per month in the first income quartile to 326 euros in the fourth income quartile. Findings: Households with children are more greatly affected than households without children. This pattern applies to both poorer and richer households.

 

Links and downloads: Paper contains all results in detail

The detailed data broken down by income quartiles as well as by household types, single parents, and couples with and without children can be found in the paper linked below (PDF). It also includes a structured analysis of the effectiveness of the Federal Government’s relief package with regard to different budgets.

Inflation – extra burden and relief of family households (PDF, in German)

 

More recent work in this area (in German):

How basic child protection can succeed

What disadvantages parents and carers experience in their daily work

What are the perspectives of child and youth policy in the investing welfare state

 

Project team: Leilah Dismond, Dr Oliver Ehrentraut, Andreas Heimer, Dr Stefan Moog

Do you have questions?

Your contact at Prognos

Andreas Heimer

Partner, Director

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Dr Stefan Moog

Senior Expert

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