According to a study, the gap between people with lower incomes and high earners in Germany has narrowed.
This is mainly due to the self-employed.
The
corona pandemic
has hit employees financially hard in many industries.
Especially the self-employed.
According
to a study by the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), the
gap between people with lower incomes and high earners
in Germany has
narrowed
somewhat overall
, as reported by the German Press Agency (dpa).
"As early as the financial crisis it was shown that income inequality is reduced in times of crisis because the upper incomes fall more than those of the lower income groups", explained study author and DIW expert Markus Grabka according to dpa.
Income inequality in the corona crisis - declining income of the self-employed
"In the corona pandemic, the declining income of the self-employed has a particular impact on the distribution." The self-employed are in the upper half of the income groups.
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However, the falling inequality is only a snapshot
.
"If the pandemic continues well into the year and the containment
measures
tighten again, this could go hand in hand with
rising insolvency figures and increasing unemployment *
and also
affect
the
income
situation
across the board
," warned Grabka, according to dpa.
Corona: Sales and profits decreased, especially in the service sector
According to the study, the monthly net household income of the self-employed in the second lockdown decreased by an average of 16 percent or 460 euros compared to 2019
, as dpa writes.
Accordingly, sales and profits have fallen significantly in some areas of the economy, particularly in the service sector, due to the measures to combat the pandemic.
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In contrast, the incomes of salaried and civil servants' households have risen nominally by five percent.
In the other household types they remained unchanged on average.
Data from a special survey by the Socio-Economic Panel from January and February of the current year were evaluated.
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.
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