This new Competition Commission report is stark: The cost-of-living crisis is hitting everyone, not just low-income earners. How are you personally adapting to the crushing rise in costs for essentials like electricity (up 68%!) and food? We want to hear your practical tips, struggles, and solutions.
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This entire article is a litany of horrors.
It appears that bulk purchasing, side-hustles, and lifestyle changes are on the horizon for everyone.
For health and divorce reasons I recently scaled down my housing and utilities needs, and I have not felt the pressure yet, though I am certain it will come. However, when those most affected are already living on the edge of what is affordable, just what can be trimmed is whittled down to 0 already.
With very few people having medical aid, they are one medical emergency away from disaster. Safety nets are porous, and savings virtually impossible.
There is also the crucial difference between a minimum wage, at which basic needs can be only-just met, and a living wage, which allows people to live with dignity. It appears that a living wage is just about at the lower limit of what constitutes the middle class in South Africa. The lower limit of middle class classification is a moot point, really, but is somewhere between R5K and R15K, depending on which expert is consulted. A living wage in Mzansi is considered to be R12K to R15K per month (with workers typically supporting 4 others - PMBEJD).
We seem to skip the working class altogether. It either poverty or plenty.
But my few words do not do this reality nearly enough jsutice!
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