How Germans’ Sufferings Aggravated After Surging Food and Energy Prices?

Middle- and low-income families in Germany are struggling to cope with inflation under the squeeze of food and energy prices, amid accusations of government negligence.

On Tuesday, August 30, the inflation rate in Germany reached 7.9% up from July's 7.5%, after it decreased in May and June, according to official figures.

Workers and retirees criticized the absence of government actions in such crises while many of them are looking for ways to reduce the cost of electricity and water bills.

 

Germans Are Worried

Middle and low income families in Germany are grappling to face the soaring prices of food and energy, blaming the government’s inaction over their mess.

As inflation has soared in recent months, hitting 7.9% last Tuesday, Germans, especially workers and retirees, are expressing anxiety and anger as said by Ramona, a retiree living in the capital Berlin. “People are worried,” she told Anadolu Agency, adding that many are looking for alternatives to lower their electricity and water bills. “We already changed the shower head and the taps [to water-saving versions], and we’ll only turn on the heat in the living room.”

Sabine, a working mother, told Anadolu Agency that even at discount chains, food prices are surging and everything is getting more and more expensive. “For what I used to pay for three people, now I have to calculate at least €50 more a week. That’s very hard,” she said.

​Jurgen, who is a father of four children, said they have been taking cold showers as energy-saving measures and it is still very difficult to cope with energy bills. "As a family of six, it's very difficult. Too little to live, too much to die,” he said.

Russia’s war on Ukraine and the growing tensions between Berlin and Moscow have led gas and oil prices to soar, which pushed up the prices of food and other essential goods. After being dependent on Russian gas for 50 percent of its consumption, Germany began searching for diversification of gas sources, through agreements and visits of its officials to Qatar, "Israel," and African countries, in search of short-term contracts to supply gas.

 

Not Enough Help

Fears from the high cost of living have increased more and more when it comes to the risks of bankruptcy, which particularly threaten the owners of small and medium-sized enterprises, a large part of which are family-owned, providing more than two-thirds of job opportunities in Germany.

Steven Stibling, a father and owner of a bakery in Thuringia for nearly a century, stated that the cost of producing a small piece of bread, for example, rose from 20 to 70 cents, which means that customers will think twice before paying, putting Steven's bakery on the verge of bankruptcy.

And if the bakery has so far miraculously escaped bankruptcy, according to Steven, then the total or partial closure has actually hit many companies and institutions that could not afford the high production costs and energy prices.

According to DW, the number of companies that will go bankrupt will increase from 14,600 this year to 16,100 next year.

Analysts agree that without government support in the tens of billions of euros since the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic, bankruptcies would have been more and faster.

However, many workers and retirees are criticizing the government for not doing enough to “lighten the load on citizens and instead abandoning them.”

A retired kindergarten teacher stated that retirees are struggling to cope.

“We’ve simply been abandoned. We pensioners probably aren’t worth anything anymore,” she said.

“I no longer shop at supermarkets, only at discount stores. And then I think about whether or not I should buy fruit, for example.”

The German government provided, this April, a relief package in order to ease the energy bills' pressure, but critics said it was not enough to face the crisis.

The government included “a one-off €300 ($299) energy tax break and €200 payment for welfare recipients, and a €9-a-month public transport ticket which expires at the end of August,” according to Anadolu Agency.

Brigitte, another retiree living in Berlin, said they’re worried that energy costs and rents will rise further in the coming months.

“We now pay €50 more rent monthly due to an increase in operating costs,” she said.

“Now we’re afraid that it will be too much, but what can we do?”

 

Alternatives to Cope

It is estimated that families in Germany, according to a number of their members, have to bear additional costs ranging between 3 and 5 thousand euros before the next winter.

While recent government subsidies of €30 billion for public transport and energy consumption have somewhat eased the squeezing of high prices, the extent of the fear of poverty, and the inability to pay energy, heating, and daily living bills in the coming winter is a nightmare for millions of Germans these days.

The soaring oil and gas prices have forced the German people to change their habits to cope with the crisis. 

Accordingly, they have started to change the ways they shop and suspend leisure activities.

Sandro, a father, told Anadolu Agency that he has a car but he rides a bike or takes the train, adding that he is doing everything to keep up with inflation and rising energy bills.

He said: “I try not to use the heat, not to run electrical appliances. I’m doing whatever I can to save.”

Some Germans have already changed the shower head and the taps to water-saving versions while some others stopped using the air conditioner despite the heat wave​​.