Income falls due to pandemic: low-wage earners suffer the greatest losses

Monday 14 December 2020

Income falls due to pandemic
Low-wage earners suffer the most

The longer the corona crisis lasts, the more Germans will feel the pandemic financially. The crisis intensifies the "social flip side": According to a study, people with low incomes are most often and hardest hit.

More and more Germans are feeling the corona crisis in their wallets. In November, 40 percent of employees said that their income had decreased due to the pandemic, according to a study by the Institute for Economic and Social Sciences (WSI) reported by the "Süddeutsche Zeitung". For the third time since the outbreak of the pandemic, the WSI surveyed more than 6,000 employees. The proportion of those who lost or are still losing income due to the corona pandemic has increased by eight percentage points since June.

People with low incomes are particularly often affected by losses: Every second person who normally had a net income of up to 1500 euros per month is affected, but only every third person with 2000 euros or more. The losses are particularly great for those who previously earned little. Every second employee with up to 1500 euros net per month in his household experiences losses of more than a quarter. There are only half as many among the higher earners. "The pandemic is increasing the social impact," said WSI Director Bettina Kohlrausch.

In parallel to the loss of income, approval of the government's crisis management is falling. Six months ago, two-thirds were satisfied; in November it was only 55 percent. Corona deniers and their conspiracy myths do not benefit from it. In November, for example, only 28 percent of those surveyed could imagine that elites would use the pandemic to assert the interests of the rich and powerful. In June it was 40 percent. According to the WSI researchers, this decline is likely to be related to the fact that more citizens are taking the pandemic seriously since infections and deaths rose significantly from the fall.

70 percent of those surveyed are currently worried about their health, twelve percentage points more than in summer. 95 percent of those surveyed in November stated that they adhere to the hygiene rules and wear a mask. 86 percent react angry when other people do not adhere to Corona safety precautions.