Rising prices are making it increasingly difficult for ordinary people to make ends meet.
There is analysis that the polarization has deepened amid the ongoing economic downturn.
According to the Household Trends Survey released by the Office for National Statistics, the real income of the lowest 20 per cent of income earners in the third quarter of this year was 1,039,600 won, down 6.5 per cent from last year.
During the same period, the top 20% fell by 2%, and even if the range was extended to all households, the average fall was 2.8%, resulting in a fall in real income as a whole, but the low income group are more affected by high prices.
In addition, it was found that the number of deficient households whose expenditure is greater than their income is 57.7% in the lowest 20% of the low income class.
This means that 6 out of every 10 low-income households live in the red in the last three quarters.
Another striking statistic is that the bottom 20%, the low income class, spend a lot on food.
They spend around half of their disposable income on food.
Disposable income is disposable income, that is, total income less taxes, insurance premiums, interest, etc., and is money that can be spent freely.
The average monthly disposable income of the bottom 20% in the last three quarters was 902,000 won.
Among them, 429,000 earned food expenses, accounting for 47.5% or almost half of the total expenditure.
3.7% since last year is a figure.
The unfortunate thing is that the actual food expenditure of the low-income class fell by 4.1% when the inflation rate was calculated.
In other words, only the amount of expenditure has increased due to the increase in prices, but the actual amount of food has decreased.
For example, if you bought two for 3,000 won last year, you can only buy one for 4,000 won this year.
In fact, the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages rose in the third quarter by 7.9% from last year, which is much higher than the general rate of increase in consumer prices of 5.9%.
This means that the increase in food prices puts more of a burden on the working class.
It is not just the cost of food that is increasing.
Utility bills like electricity and gas are also increasing one after the other.
Costs associated with housing, which are essential for living, are also inevitably higher the lower the income.
That is why it is stated that measures to stabilize the livelihood of the low income class are urgent.
YTN Bori Yoon (ybr0729@ytn.co.kr)
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