“Today our device protects but has flaws.” To justify his desire to gradually unplug the 18-cent fuel discount, Bruno Le Maire lamented in early June that this boost introduced on April 1 would also benefit wealthy households able to afford sky-high prices at the pump.
Worse still, the richest French benefit twice as much as the poorest with 18.50 euros saved on average per month for the richest 10% compared to 9.50 euros for the poorest 10%, according to the latest Council note of Economic Analysis (CAE).
“These data thus confirm the intuition that the price reduction of 18 cents on the pump price is regressive”, conclude the four authors of the study.
“Dependent” and “forced” households
Although the government wants specific aid for “great cyclists” with modest incomes, the body made up of economists estimates that around a third of households are “dependent” on their vehicle and, therefore, on fuel in the sense “where your gas mileage is the same. equal to or greater than 8% of its total consumption”.
But not all of them are “restricted” by low income. The majority of households that spend more than 8% of their budget on fuel have a “good standard of living”, highlights the CAE.
In contrast, the French who are car-dependent and financially constrained tend to be rural households, young single people, salaried and working-class workers in socio-professional categories, as well as those with below-average income and financial assets. “It is to these types of households that government aid should be directed,” says Philippe Martin.
The CAE work also shows that “in terms of value, the evolution of other consumer items is much flatter among households with forced dependency.” In other words, this population has no choice but to cut other expenses to maintain their level of fuel consumption.
No increase in accounts in the red
Despite inflation close to 6% annually in June, the CAE “does not see an increase” in the proportion of low-income households that show a negative balance in their current account.
However, no consumption item (leisure, food, etc.) suffered a “very clear drop” in terms of spending, he adds, with the more modest French seeming to cut back a little on each of these items. “For the median household (fifth decile), the proportion of households with a negative current account is still lower than before the Covid crisis,” the CAE also points out.
As for the richest French, they barely touch the extra savings accumulated during the Covid-19 pandemic. “In June 2022, its savings stock would thus be more than 10% higher than what would correspond to the trend prior to the health crisis,” details the CAE.
Source: BFM TV
