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Focus on Christmas presents: Low-income households save massively!
As of December 17, 2024, a study shows that 17% of low-income Austrian households do not buy gifts.
Focus on Christmas presents: Low-income households save massively!
In a worrying development at Christmas, 17 percent of households in Austria with a monthly net income of less than 2,000 euros say they will not buy any gifts this year. That's almost 180,000 households that have to forego gifts or drastically reduce their spending because of the ongoing inflation crisis, as today.at reports. In comparison, high-earning households in the top income quartile, which earn more than 5,000 euros net per month, can afford a completely different picture: only three percent of them fall into the group of gift refusers and spend an average of around 920 euros on Christmas presents. This shows the extreme differences in Christmas spending: While the lowest-income households spend a total of around 300 million euros, the richest households invest around 950 million euros on gifts.
Wealth inequality in Europe
The situation of households with weaker assets in Austria is not isolated. A look at the distribution of wealth in Europe shows a similar picture of inequality. According to a report by bpb, the richest decade of households in Germany own around 56 percent of the net assets, while the poorest 10 percent only own a minimal share. This gap can also be observed in other countries, where a large share of wealth lies in the hands of a few. Across the EU, the richest 10 percent owned over half of all assets in 2021, highlighting the alarming inequality within and between member states.
One reason for this inequality is property ownership. In Germany, where only 45 percent of households own property, wealth inequality is particularly pronounced. In contrast, in countries such as Slovakia and Malta, over 70 percent of households own their own properties, which contributes to a more equitable distribution of wealth. This income and wealth gap becomes particularly noticeable in the contemplative period before Christmas and reinforces the question of how such differences affect society.