The illusion of prosperity: How much money do you really need in Germany?

The illusion of prosperity: How much money do you really need in Germany?

Deutschland - What does the average German think about his income and his social situation? A current survey has shown that many of us have a rather distorted perception of our own financial situation. According to a report by the German Institute for Economics (IW), 54.5 percent believe to belong to the middle class, while it is actually only 48 percent. This discrepancy throws a light on a deep -rooted misunderstanding regarding social classes in Germany. Experts like Marius Busemeyer emphasize that the lower class and upper class often do not correctly assess its situation. A study from 2022 shows that poor underestimate their relative poverty, while wealthier people tend to estimate their wealth less than it actually is.

"The threshold of income is set too high," says economist Maximilian Stockhausen. The estimate of how many rich there actually exists is usually more optimistic than reality has it. As a result, many people mistakenly assign themselves to the middle class. A need-weighted budget net income between 3,880 and 7,280 euros in this country is considered a middle class for a family with two parents and two minor children, so the experts report in the article on Merkur .

Income stratification and poverty risk

A look at the numbers shows how strongly the income stratification in Germany can vary. The lowest income layers are defined by earnings of less than 60 percent of the median income, which many people have an increased risk of poverty. The poverty and wealth report underlines that the proportion of the population, which lives in relative income poverty, has varied in recent years, but the risk of poverty remains relevant. According to BPB was 2022 in Germany at 15 percent.

The wrong perception of wealth

The question of what wealth means is like an oversized shadow: Many do not know how to grasp it properly. The difficulty of clearly define the term "wealth" means that many people incorrectly assess their social affiliation. It was found that people show disproportionately high values ​​for their own wealth and believe that there are more rich among us than the statistics show. The IW experts also criticize that the use of the middle income to define the middle class can be misleading because the real income awareness is very distorted.