Michiel Majoor gets his bread elsewhere these days. The price at the local bakery rose sharply, partly due to the high inflation. “Four euros for a loaf of bread! I can afford that, but at a certain point it becomes a matter of principle.” That is why Majoor now goes to the market for bread. There it is 1.25 euros cheaper.
Furthermore, business economist and real estate advisor Majoor (37) notices little of the rising prices in everyday life. He lives in Oostzaan with his wife and two young children, they bought their house in 2014. His car is owned by the company, he got a fuel card with it. They have a second car, but they use it a lot less since the family bought two electric bicycles.
With a family income of around three times the average, Majoor and his wife belong to the income group that is generally not seriously affected by the rising prices. An average annual income is around 38,000 euros gross; then you usually have to keep a close eye on your expenses.
Almost 45 percent of Dutch households have an income above 50,000 euros gross per year, knows the Central Bureau of Statistics. More than 20 percent of households have an annual income of more than 100,000 euros.
Higher rents, higher fuel prices, more expensive groceries: these higher-earning households are also affected. But they generally have the financial room to absorb it.
Major, for example, will still have a high energy bill. Every year he changes energy supplier; normally a good strategy because of the one-time switching discount you get. His contract expires in August. It is still exciting what energy prices he will be presented with next. “It’s not pleasant, but I’m not worried about it. We have an energy-efficient home.”
Variable energy contract
Georg Jaspers (27) will probably also soon be confronted with a significantly higher energy bill. He has a variable contract and is “a little afraid of the settlement in September”. On the other hand: “We hardly burn. And I have a piggy bank.”
Furthermore, Jaspers, leader of a sales team at software company Lucid, does not notice much of the inflation. He owns a house in Haarlem and a company electric lease car. Together with his girlfriend, he earns about four times the average. His biggest expense? The nursery where his one-year-old son goes five days a week. He doesn’t even know whether his groceries have become more expensive. “I always print the short receipt – better for the environment.”
Jaap Overbeek from Kudelstaart, municipality of Aalsmeer, has more luck with his energy bill. He signed a three-year contract in 2020. “Hopefully prices will come down a bit soon. But over the years I had the privilege of insulating the house in such a way that I would still have nothing to complain about.”
Overbeek (71) worked as a tax lawyer and earned three times the average. Now he has a “good pension” with which he gets about the same. He is chairman of Rotary Aalsmeer-Uithoorn, a club for wealthy philanthropists. He notices that the members have few concerns about inflation. “They are mostly people from the business world, who have the opportunity to live a carefree life. The fact that life is becoming more expensive is hardly noticeable at the club.”
Rather Aldi than Albert Heijn
People with a high income have the ‘luxury’ that personal preferences – not necessity – determine how they deal with a more expensive world. That’s what Eva van den Broek, a behavioral economist, works for Behavioral Insights, a consultancy for companies and governments. “If you already have food delivered every day and don’t go to the supermarket, you probably won’t change that much. But some wealthy people also pay attention to prices in the supermarket, and they will now do so even more.”
His wife, says Overbeek, comes from a family “where the little ones had to be looked after”. She now also prefers to go to Aldi than to Albert Heijn, and mainly buys products on offer. “It won’t go away,” he says, “although it’s no longer necessary.”
They are in a luxurious position, say Majoor, Jaspers and Overbeek. And that sometimes leads to some inconvenience. Especially when the media reports about people who are hit hard or can no longer make ends meet.
Overbeek regularly comes into contact with people with ‘a narrow scholarship’ through his voluntary work at a senior citizens’ association. Through the union, he helps people navigate “the jungle of municipal facilities”, such as when applying for social assistance or an energy allowance. He sees that some are having a harder time financially. “Recently I received an unexpected call from the village. That was someone who had it not very bad before. Now he can no longer pay his energy bill and is going to apply for an energy allowance.”
Major: “It does gnaw. We were lucky: we bought a house at the right time and happened to convert our mortgage to a favorable interest rate last year.” He “coincidentally is on the right side of the coin”, says Majoor. “But it also means that others are on the bad side. I find this dichotomy in society really worrying.”
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