TimesLIVE reports that nearly half of SA adults are struggling to afford food and electricity, highlighting the pressing financial challenges consumers are facing, with fewer jobs in the formal economy and a small number of low-earners in the informal sector.
This is according to FinMark Trust’s annual “FinScope Consumer SA” report for 2023, released on Tuesday. The report shows that 40% of adults are resorting to borrowing money to buy food. Living expenses, which include groceries, energy, transportation and communication, account for about 85% of monthly income. Of this, groceries make up 30.4% of expenses, energy 11.5%, transportation 9.1%, communication 8.8% and routine household maintenance, rental and rates 8.5%. FinMark Trust’s Jabulani Khumalo indicated: “It is considered highly burdensome to allocate more than 10% of income to household energy expenses, including electricity. Due to financial constraints, two out of every five individuals reported their homes being without electricity in 2023. The year 2024 may not alleviate the cost to consumers as they have recently endured a staggering 12.74% increase in Eskom’s tariffs, with no indication of interest rates decreasing soon.” In its 20-year overview, the survey revealed that the labour force had shrunk from 47% in 2003 to 39% in 2023, with the formal sector primarily responsible for this decrease with a decline from 32% to 20%. The number of people reliant on social assistance, including subsidies and outside support, has significantly increased over the past two decades. Individuals receiving social assistance increased from 10-million (or 37%) in 2003 to 30-million (68%) in 2023. In 2003 only 13% of adults received government social grants. By 2023 this figure had risen to 46%.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard at BusinessLive
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