The latest data from Statistics South Africa shows that living standards are improving rather than falling
The latest data on how South Africans live, and in what comfort, has been released by Statistics South Africa, in their Changes in standard of living among population groups in South Africa, 1998-2006 report. The report measures a variety of standards of living and allows us to see whether poverty reduction is in fact taking place. It appears that it is, and that there is a growing middle class. So what were some of the factors that were looked at?
Housing type
Sources of sanitation and water
Sources of lighting and cooking
The report also looked at access to telephony. On the whole Black households have shown a measure of improvement and there has been no noticeable decline in the standards of living for both White and Asian households. Perception is a tricky thing as many people feel that they are not getting what they expected out of the new South Africa, but the stats themselves are revealing of the actuality rather than the received wisdom.
The actuality is that there are more people with a middle class standard of living than before and those who had a middle class standard of living have not noticeably declined. So what does this have to do with your personal finance? Well things are getting, slowly, better and the more of a middle class we have the more stable as a country we shall become. So plan your budget and stick to it, because the future looks brighter and you will need your money for then.
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