An average salary of R21,228 may still pay the bills. But once the biggest expenses have been covered, there is relatively little room left to build wealth.
South Africans earning the country's average take-home salary of R21,228 a month sit just below what researchers define as the lower end of the middle class.
Yet when that salary is broken down using how households actually spend their money, it becomes easier to understand why so many working South Africans say they feel financially stretched.
To test whether South Africa's average salary can still buy what has traditionally been regarded as a middle-class lifestyle, IOL applied Statistics South Africa's latest household expenditure patterns to the latest PayInc Net Salary Index.
The overall annual net income ratio appears to have worsened for many income bands; those taking home R35,000 or more have an overall income ratio of 210%, which is the highest level the debt review company has seen.
