Band 9: The charts below show the percentage of monthly household income spent on various items by two different groups in one European country. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The pie charts compare how households in a European country spend their monthly income in two different groups: low-income and high-income families.

Overall low-income households spend a larger proportion of their income on basic needs such as food and fuel while high-income families allocate more money to leisure-related items and miscellaneous expenses.

In the lowincome group, the biggest share of spending is on food and drink, which accounts for 29% of total income. Fuel is the second largest category at 24%. Miscellaneous items also take a noticeable amount at 18%. By contrast only small proportions are spent on restaurants and hotels (4%) and clothing (5%). Spending on transportation and recreational activities stands at 9 and 11% respectively.

In comparison, high-income households spend less on essentials. Food and drink makes up only 15%and fuel just 7%. However they spend more on miscellaneous items (23%) and recreational and cultural activities (21%). Transportation also represents a higher share at 16% while spending on restaurants and hotels increases to 12%.

In summary, higher income allows households to spend more on nonessential items rather than basic needs.