High Gas Prices Hit Low-income Americans The Hardest

苏红英

For lower-income Americans，high gas prices can set off a cycle of hardship.

Driving the news：The daily US average national price for a gallon of regular climbed to $4.99 as of June 9 morning — a cent shy of the symbolic $5 threshold，according to AAA.

Those at the top spent the equivalent of about 2% of their income on gas in 2019. Thats the most recent year for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics has survey data that are not skewed by weird pandemic behavior.

Those at the lower end of the income scale devoted 8% of their after-tax income to gas in 2019.（Although many living in urban areas without cars are spared the expense.）

In 2008，when gas prices hit a record（inflation-adjusted） high，that group spent close to 12%.

This data looks at gas expenditures as a percentage of income. A more common practice is to slice the numbers as a percentage of overall household spending.

It looks different that way：The lowest 20% of earners devoted 3.7% of their spending to gas versus 2.7% for the highest earners，per BLS.

Meanwhile，more recent data，from Bank of America， shows that Americans who earn less than $50，000 a year are currently spending nearly 10% of their credit card bills on gas， compared with 6% for households earning more than $125，000.

For those who must drive to work，higher gas prices are essentially a pay cut.

“It can create a cascade of other hardships，”said former Federal Reserve economist Claudia Sahm. If an increased share of your money goes to gas，you have to make painful choices about where that cash comes from.

This comes at a time of rising food prices，which are also pinching lower-income households.

對于美国低收入人群来说，高油价可能引发一系列难题。

美国汽车协会数据显示，截至6月9日上午，美国一加仑普通汽油均价攀升至 4.99 美元，比象征性的5美元门槛低了一美分。

美国劳工统计局最新调查数据显示，2019 年，美国高收入人群的汽油支出相当于其收入的 2%。这些数据没有受到新冠疫情的影响。

2019 年，低收入人群的汽油支出占其税后收入的8%（尽管许多没有汽车的城市居民可以省下这笔费用。）

2008年，当油价创下历史新高（根据通胀调整后）时，低收入人群的汽油支出接近12%。

该数据计算的是汽油支出占收入的百分比。更常见的是计算汽油支出占家庭总开支的百分比。

这样数据就有所变化：根据美国劳工统 计局的数据，占比 20%的低收入人群的汽油 支出占家庭总开支的3.7%，而高收入人群汽 油支出占比2.7%。

与此同时，美国银行最新数据显示，年收 入低于5万美元的美国人目前的信用卡账单 汽油消费占比接近 10%，而年收入超过 12.5 万美元的家庭则为6%。

对于那些必须开车上班的人来说，油价上涨本质上是一种降薪。

前美联储经济学家克劳迪娅·萨姆表示： “油价上涨可能会引发一系列其他困难。”如 果你的加油支出越多，就不得不在其他方面 削减开支。

同时食品价格也在上涨，这使低收入家庭雪上加霜。