More than three out of four South Africans are stressed about their finances and having enough money to make it to the end of each month, according to a survey from a debt counselling company.
DebtBusters’ second annual Money Stress Tracker released on Thursday shows that 78% of South Africans are anxious or worried about their finances, up eight percentage points from last year.
Respondents say these worries spill over into other parts of their lives, with 94% indicating their money worries affected their home life, 78% their work life and 77% their health.
Women felt anxiety and stress about money matters more acutely than men — four out of five versus almost three in four. Both say their worries affected their home and work life, and their health.
Psychotherapist Diane Salters told DebtBusters women often carry a greater responsibility in caring for the family and are more likely to admit their concerns than men.
“Social conditioning often stops men from admitting they need help. Worldwide, women are more likely to use health services and social programmes. This is good because it means that women are more likely to get and use any help available,” she added.
More than 35,000 people who are not in debt counselling responded to the online survey — up from 14,000 in 2022.
The survey aims to use the self-declared data to give a breakdown of how financial stress affects the lives of South Africans among a representative sample of local consumers.
It found lower-income earners experienced more stress, while higher-income earners were more likely to have unsustainable debt.
DebtBusters chief operations officer Benay Sager said the company’s analysis found consumers shouldn’t spend more than 30% take-home pay on debt repayments.
Still, the survey found 62% of households in the two highest income bands — those earning R20,000 to R35,000 a month, and those with more than R35,000 — are spending 40% and more of their net income on debt. The overall average amount spent on debt was 55%.
“This is simply too much, especially in a high-interest, high-inflation environment,” Sager said.
One of the biggest stressors over the past year is the impact of interest rate hikes. Other factors include households running out of money before the end of the month, unexpected expenses, the impact of power cuts, school fees, having enough to retire, and the rising cost of living.
Paying debt is the biggest concern for people earning less than R5,000 a month, and interest rate hikes for people earning more than R35,000.
The survey also found younger consumers were one-and-a-half times more likely than their older counterparts to set a budget and stick to it.
Less than 15% of respondents with unsustainable monthly debt repayments take any positive action. When asked why, most of those aged 35 years and older said they felt stuck or embarrassed.
“The tragedy here is the significant number of people who could benefit from debt counselling and other forms of debt management that are readily available and proven to work, but who don’t seek help because they’re frozen in indecision, embarrassed or don’t know who to trust,” Sager said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.