Inflation Hit the Poor Hardest. The Rich Recovered First.
May 15, 2026 · Frisian News
New data shows that inflation between 2022 and 2024 widened the gap between rich and poor households across Europe. Wealthier families recovered purchasing power through asset gains and wage growth, while lower-income households remain squeezed on groceries and rent.
A grocery worker in Amsterdam buys fewer eggs today than she did in 2021, though official inflation has "cooled." Her landlord raised rent twice. Her wages went up modestly. Meanwhile, a Rotterdam accountant's investment portfolio climbed significantly in the same period, his salary rose well above inflation, and his mortgage stayed locked at a low fixed rate from years back. This gap between households widened sharply across the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany from 2022 through 2024, according to economic research published recently.
Official statistics flattened the story. Central banks announced victory over inflation around mid-2024, and headline numbers looked good. But those numbers hide what happened at the bottom and top of the income ladder. Poor households spent a much larger share of their budget on food and energy. When those prices spiked, they cut other spending to survive. Food banks reported significantly more visitors in 2023 than before the pandemic. Rich households spent a much smaller share on the same necessities. They could absorb the shock, even spend more on restaurants and holidays as confidence returned.
Wage growth tells a cleaner story about who lost ground. Workers in logistics, retail, and care jobs saw below-inflation raises on average from 2022 to 2024. Technical staff, managers, and professionals in finance fared considerably better. Lower-wage sectors faced the sharpest skills shortages but had the least bargaining power with employers. One logistics driver in Hamburg told us his hourly rate barely moved in three years. His rent climbed substantially. He works more hours now than before the inflation spike.
Asset owners built wealth while wage earners treaded water. A modest stock or real estate portfolio saw significant gains between early 2022 and late 2024 for many households. For some, those gains exceeded what a supermarket cashier earns in a full year. Most poor households own no stocks and little property. In countries where rents track inflation, landlords captured wage gains almost instantly. The wealth concentration that inflation supposedly threatened never materialized for the top decile. It tightened for everyone else.
Central banks did cut rates starting late 2024, but savings and pensions for lower-income retirees stayed eroded. A person living on a modest fixed pension lost real buying power that wage indexing never recovered. Governments' social spending barely kept pace with inflation in most countries. The poor adapted by buying less and saving nothing. That habit stays even as prices stabilize. Trust, once broken, does not mend fast.
Published May 15, 2026 · Frisian News