The top quartile of the income distribution accounts for almost half of the pandemic-related decline in aggregate consumption, with expenditure for this group falling much more than income. In contrast, the bottom quartile of the income distribution has seen the smallest spending cuts and the largest earnings drop but their total incomes have fallen by much less because of the increase in government benefits. The decline in consumers’ spending preceded the introduction of the lockdown, whose partial lifting has triggered a stronger recovery in sectors with a lower contact rate. The largest spending contractions are concentrated in the most affluent regions. These conclusions are based on detailed high-frequency transaction data on spending, earnings and income from a large fintech company in the United Kingdom.

收入分配的前四分之一几乎占与大流行相关的总消费下降的一半，该群体的支出下降幅度远大于收入。相比之下，收入分配的最后四分之一的支出削减最小，收入下降最大，但是由于政府收益的增加，其总收入的下降幅度要小得多。消费者支出下降是在实行锁定措施之前，锁定措施的部分解除引发了联系率较低的部门的强劲复苏。最大的支出收缩集中在最富裕的地区。这些结论基于有关英国一家大型金融科技公司的支出，收入和收入的详细高频交易数据。