The Money Stress Tracker is based on a survey of over 27,000 respondents, making it one of the largest surveys conducted in South Africa. It measures household finances and consumer stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report tracks stress and financial health levels across income groups, locations, ages, and genders, showing which groups are most at risk of losing control of their finances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The survey reported that, on average, 48% of households spent more than 40% of their disposable income on debt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnything beyond 40% is unsustainable,\u201d the group said, adding that spending more than 50% was critically unsustainable and that the 30% to 40 % range is the \u201cdanger zone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By its metrics, 63% of South African households are in the danger zone. Additionally, 70% of respondents said they were financially stressed. It\u2019s slightly better than last year, which stood at 75% or 78% in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Mashego said<\/a> that although the numbers have dipped slightly, the situation is far from resolved, particularly for those earning above R20,000 per month.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe strain for people earning more than R20,000 a month hasn\u2019t eased at all,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe know a lot about the numbers, about inflation, how people manage debt, but what we perhaps don\u2019t talk about enough is the emotional and psychological strain of financial pressures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She said this strain can manifest in deeply personal ways. \u201cIt can do with a feeling of guilt that you\u2019re letting family members down,\u201d Mashego noted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThere might be children who are hoping to advance in some way, educationally, socially, or in terms of their sporting or cultural aspirations. And there are family members who depend on you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mashego believes it\u2019s important to go beyond the numbers and understand the deeper, less visible consequences of financial stress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She said financial pressure is not just a background concern but is often central to the reasons people seek psychological help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFinancial stress is crippling, and it is so common because of the era we\u2019re living in. Everything is expensive, and affordability is a huge issue.\u201d The impact extends to relationships as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCouples and families are struggling. Financial pressure often leads to guilt, resentment, and conflict, especially when one person is carrying the burden for a larger group of people,\u201d said Mashego. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mashego pointed out that changes in household income, going from two salaries to one, for instance, can cause a shift in family dynamics and introduce serious emotional strain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt can bring anxiety, depression, a sense of hopelessness and helplessness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She also touched on the additional pressures brought on by social media. \u201cSocial media is quite influential in how we interpret what we\u2019re going through,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s not a real place, but people post lives that make you feel like you\u2019re lacking. That creates even more stress, especially if you\u2019re already struggling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mashego warned that the fear of financial failure can have a direct impact on work performance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you’re working with a terrible fear of failure, like losing your job, it\u2019s hard to do your best. You\u2019re not going to be productive, and it affects team dynamics too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mashego stressed that due to the growing stresses on the middle- and working-class, there needs to be a de-stigmatisation of mental health in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNot just one-on-one therapy, but creating spaces for psychologists or coaches to build awareness and foster healthier environments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mashego\u2019s key message is that financial pressure is not just an economic problem but a mental health crisis that affects people\u2019s well-being, relationships, and productivity and must be treated as such.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Middle-class South Africans continue to be under significant financial pressure, and its effect is taking its toll. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":700011,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11121],"tags":[16894,6392,853],"class_list":["post-833166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","tag-debt-busters","tag-middle-class","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=833166"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":834873,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/833166\/revisions\/834873"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/700011"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=833166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=833166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=833166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Stress needs to be considered in the workplace<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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