Low-income households have been particularly hard hit by inflation. 26.1 per cent of those with an income lower than 2500 euros a month, and every tenth household with a higher monthly income are struggling in the current cost of living crisis.

Soaring food prices threaten the livelihoods of many German citizens. Most households have almost completely depleted their reserves, as revealed by a survey on a representative sample conducted by Germany’s Postbank. The survey asked around 2100 adult citizens about how inflation affects their finances. 58.1 per cent of respondents said their expenses have increased significantly, and nearly 17 per cent said they could barely cover their necessary expenses due to the rising prices.

Inflation was particularly palpable in terms of food prices, which were 21.8 per cent higher this February than in the same month a year earlier.

Lower income households are currently in the most precarious situation. The study found that 26.1 per cent of those with a net monthly income below 2,500 euros were struggling with a cost of living crisis, while every tenth individual reported the same from households with higher income.

Ulrich Stephan, Postbank’s chief investment strategist, considers these development concerning. He argues that the loss of people’s purchasing power does not only cause an economic crisis, it can also generate social tensions.

The danger of such tensions is also growing because pessimism about the economic situation is now spreading. According to the survey, only 11.6 percent believe that their living standards will improve in the future, while more than half, 51.6 percent, expecting that it will worsen.

This decline in purchasing power is the largest within a year since 1949. The wages of most employees cannot keep up with inflation. Many trade unions are trying to get employers to raise their employees’ wages to reflect the rate of inflation, for example in the public sector, or the postal services.

Recently, postal workers also went on strike for several days because their employer refused to compensate them for the depreciation of their real wages. despite a profit of more than eight billion euros. Some 15 thousand workers went on strike at the time.

#DeutschePost AG: Wir rufen die Beschäftigten in allen Brief- u Paketzentren (Verteilzentren) bundesweit für Donnerstag, den 19.1., u Freitag, 20.1.23, ganztägig zum #Streik auf. In den folgenden Tagen werden weitere Streiks folgen. Details: https://t.co/yEu1c1oEgK pic.twitter.com/2EIDaqO0wK

— ver.di – Vereinte Dienstleistungsgewerkschaft (@_verdi) January 19, 2023

As Deutsche Post operates 82 postal centres, 38 parcel points and two international postal hubs in Germany, it was not uncommon that the dispatch and delivery of parcels and letters suffered a delay of 1-2 weeks due to the strike.