Inflation remains the dominant problem: according to a study by Statistics Austria, 27 percent expect payment problems for rent, housing loans, additional housing costs or operational costs in the next three months. This share has more than doubled compared to last year. While Social Affairs Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens) is confident that the federal government’s anti-inflation measures will increasingly have an effect, the SPÖ speaks of “government failure”.
According to the study, just over a third of respondents aged 16 to 69 said they had experienced a loss of income in the past year by the end of 2022. Housing costs are a major problem, now representing a heavy financial burden for 24 percent of those surveyed. This equates to an increase of ten percentage points from the same quarter last year, according to the study’s results published Thursday.
More than a million people are struggling to cover their current expenses
At the end of 2022, just over a million people had great difficulty covering their current expenses with their household income. According to Statistics Austria, this share has increased slightly compared to last year.
Low incomes, the unemployed and households with several children are hit hard
Low-income people were particularly affected. Within this group, 47 percent indicate that they are unable to make ends meet on their household income. The share of households with unemployment was also high (37 percent). Compared to last year, the group of people from multi-child households in particular has increased sharply (from 20 to 30 percent). In all vulnerable groups, the subjective burden of housing costs has increased significantly compared to the last wave of surveys, it said.
The number of people citing inflation as the sole reason for income loss has roughly doubled. By contrast, short-time work and wage cuts have lost much of their importance as a cause of income loss.
More than half have to tighten their belts
Economic expectations for the future are also highly clouded. More than half of all respondents (53 percent) indicated at the end of 2022 that they would like to cut down on major purchases (for example furniture, cars, travel) next year. At the end of 2021, this share was still 35 percent. “High inflation is still a major concern for people. Even if expectations have improved somewhat, housing costs are becoming an increasing burden,” emphasized Social Affairs Minister Johannes Rauch (Greens).
Racuh refers to the ongoing relief efforts
According to Rauch, the federal government has tried to offset inflation with a large number of support measures. On the topic of living, he was referring to the living screen. This has been expanded with subsidies for energy costs and recently increased by a further 25 million euros to a total of 164 million euros.
SPÖ rages: “Wrong politics”
For SPÖ social spokesman Josef Muchitsch, on the other hand, the study records the “government failure” in the inflationary crisis. For a year and a half, the government has relied on the ‘wrong policy’ of one-off payments. These died out, were not accurate and cost a lot of money, but would not lower any price, but instead increase inflation. Muchitsch called for a rethink of the fight against inflation. The government must finally implement a price and inflation-reducing policy, so the question.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
