研究 消费不平等

How different are the economic lives of high and low income Americans, really? While wealth and income inequality play an important role in shaping economic opportunities, many people experience inequality most directly through the goods and services they purchase. The challenge for economists seeking to measure inequality in consumption has been access to data that provide breakdowns across products, 人口属性, 地理位置. These data slices allow us to understand the welfare implications for US consumers, because they provide context around their purchasing decisions. 简而言之, detailed consumption data are needed for a more robust understanding of what inequality means for the population. 12bet官方研究所是独一无二的 本地消费商业 data comprise over 15 billion anonymized credit and debit card transactions in 15 metropolitan areas, allowing us to examine spending patterns and how they vary by income.

The figure above shows how consumers’ allocation of everyday spending across different product categories varies across income groups.¹ 支出 at 餐厅 is very similar across income quintiles, falling in a narrow range of 15.8%到17%.占总支出的8%. 所有五分之一收入阶层的支出都在40之间.9和51.0 percent of their income on nondurable goods (e.g., groceries, clothing), which is the largest category of spending for each quintile. 有一个8.6 percentage point spread between the top and bottom quintiles for spending on durables (e.g., 电视, 冰箱, 家里的改进), which is a considerable difference given that the bottom income quintile allocates just 10.7 percent of their everyday spending to durables.

In general, higher earners are responsible for more spending than lower earners. 然而, LCC data allow us to not only examine consumption inequality in broad terms, but also to understand how inequality differs across product categories. When looking at spending within each product category, we see that there are considerable differences between which income quintile is driving demand for different types of products. 支出 on fuel is relatively equal across income quintiles, 例如, while demand for durable goods is concentrated amongst the highest earners. The chart below shows the consumption inequality curves for five different product types.

燃料 spending is notably even across income quintiles, almost perfectly overlaying the line of equality where each income quintile spends the same amount. 不耐用的, 餐厅, 以及其他服务 (e.g., beauty salons, veterinarians, movie theaters) are increasingly unequal. Durable goods are the most unequal with bottom income quintile consumers comprising less than 10 percent of all durable purchases and top income quintile consumers consuming over 37 percent. 这加起来就是27个差距.7 percentage points between the top and bottom quintiles, in contrast to the mere 0.4 percentage point gap for fuel (shown in the table below).

The degree of inequality broadly follows the elasticity of demand for the product. Many consumers must use a fixed quantity of gas to travel to work, and consumers must allocate a share of their budgets to food—either as groceries or 餐厅. Discretionary spending is left at the wayside, which contributes to higher inequality in durables, 餐厅, 以及其他服务.

The disparities in consumption inequality promote a more nuanced view of economic inequality. Inequality is most concerning when it limits the consumption of basic needs. Future analysis from the 12bet官方 研究所 will further elucidate the nature of consumption inequality among American consumers.

The 12bet官方 研究所 is committed to delivering data-rich analyses and expert insights for the public good. 我们定期更新的 本地消费者商业指数 measures the monthly year-over-year growth rate of everyday debit and credit card spending by over 50 million anonymized 追逐 customers across 15 cities in the U.S.