South Africans have endured a prolonged period of economic strain.
Financial pressure is increasingly taking a toll on South Africans' mental health and home life as rising living costs and mounting debt leave many households struggling to cope.
DebtBusters' fifth annual Money Stress Tracker found that home-life stress has reached its highest level since the survey began, with home life stress hitting 42%; up by more than a third compared to 2025, and the highest recorded level since the survey started in 2022.
“We think this is an important indicator of acute stress in terms of how much of your money is coming in and going out almost immediately,” said Benay Sager, executive head of DebtBusters.
Overall, 72% said they were experiencing financial stress, which is a slight decrease from last year – a trend that has continued since 2023 when this level was at 78%. Sager pointed out during a conference call that this was the time of “infamous load shedding” and high inflation, especially on food.
