The Constitution of South Africa is celebrated for its inclusive socio-economic rights as justiciable rights in Chapter Two. These provide the pathways to realising the inherent right to Dignity guaranteed to all in Section 10. However, the Constitutional promises lack clear tangible definitions, thresholds, or progress measures of the ultimate goal that we should be striving for. The Decent Standard of Living (DSL) provides an answer to that: what makes up a decent life of dignity, how far are people from achieving it, and what is the monthly cost associated with having a decent life?
Moving away from ‘poverty experts’, the DSL project asks ordinary people to define what a decent life is, and what constitutes a life of dignity for them. It is about more than just measuring how many people fall below the survivalist poverty lines. It contributes to a better understanding of how multiple dimensions of poverty and inequality impact people’s lives.
The DSL is a joint project between the Social Policy Initiative (SPI), the Southern African Social Policy Research Institute (SASPI), and the Labour Service, with support for the work from UNICEF SA, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), and Department of Social Development through its collaboration with the WITS Chair for Social Security.
How is this done?
The DSL approach allows adults across the country of all income brackets, cultural backgrounds, and genders to agree on what is necessary to live a decent life in South Africa today. These are agreed on in a cascading selection of focus groups that weeds out any outliers. The agreed items are called “Socially Perceived Necessities” or SPNs. In the initial study, 21 items were deemed to be Socially Perceived Necessities.
The study is now every five years and measures how households have managed to increase the number of SPNs over time, indicating improvement in living conditions and accommodate progress, such as swapping out a ‘landline telephone’ for a ‘smartphone’. In the past, the surveys were done face to face but with the pandemic, the last surveys were conducted telephonically.
This project also uses surveys to track the sources of income for households that are used to acquire the SPNs. The last study found that grants were the most common source of income used to acquire SPNs amongst the poor.
Findings:
The study centers on three broad modalities for the acquisition of SPNs: the role of social networks, commodities, and the social wage. This shows that there are different pathways to improving quality of life.
In the most recent survey, 22 items were deemed to be necessary to live a decent life. The top four items that were listed as necessary to let households live a life of dignity in order of rank are; a cell phone, electricity in the house, a fridge, and a place of worship.
Of those possessing all 22 SPNs, 86% have salaries as the main source of income in the household. However, this can be contrasted with the respondents possessing 10 or fewer SPNs who have social grants as the main source of income, where the median monthly household income is R2263 and the mean is R3929. The DSL measure is the medium per capita income of households with all SPNs. The DSL for 2022 based on the new survey is R6 034 per capita per month.
The DSL 2022 is just over double the maximum national wage. Appropriately, the DSL 2022 is higher than all of the poverty lines ( Food Poverty Line – R663; Lower Bound Poverty Line – R945; Upper Poverty Line – R1417). Poverty lines are based on a concept of a standard of living that is basic and minimalist. Note also the amounts of social grants nestle between the poverty lines, (Child Support Grant – R480; Disability Grant – R1980; Older Persons Grant – R1980).
2024 Poverty Lines: R796 Food Poverty Line; R1109 Lower Bound Poverty Line; R1634 Upper Poverty Line.
2023/2024 Grant Figures: Older Persons Grant: R2,180 (R2,200 for those 75 years and older) Disability Grant: R2,180 Child Support Grant: R530.
Implications of the Work:
The outcomes from the DSL contribute to the growing field of knowledge of multi-dimensional poverty while holding significant policy dimensions and practical implications. It is a source that has been referenced by the Department of Social Development in the annual setting of the social assistance grants and is also referenced in the recently published Green Paper on the Comprehensive Social Security and Retirement Reform in the setting of a possible Basic Income Grant. It is also currently being considered by the National Minimum Wage Commission as constituting one measure to determine the statutory requirement for a medium-term aspirational standard for future wage increases.
The findings suggest the need for continued efforts to improve access to essential items for a decent standard of living. Policymakers should address the factors contributing to the decrease in possession of certain SPNs over time, such as child- and neighbourhood-related items. Strategies to mitigate the impact of external factors like COVID-19 restrictions on the possession of SPNs, particularly in areas like visiting friends and family in hospitals, should be considered in policy planning. The DSL project as a standard by which we can measure the progressive realisation of a decent standard of living also works towards achieving the demands for action on Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 10 & 16.
The DSL is a joint project between the Social Policy Initiative (SPI), the Southern African Social Policy Research Institute (SASPI), and the Labour Service, with support for the work from UNICEF SA, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), and Department of Social Development through its collaboration with the WITS Chair for Social Security.
2024 Poverty Lines: R796 Food Poverty Line; R1109 Lower Bound Poverty Line; R1634 Upper Poverty Line.
2023/2024 Grant Figures: Older Persons Grant: R2,180 (R2,200 for those 75 years and older) Disability Grant: R2,180 Child Support Grant: R530
Sustainable Development Goal 1: No Poverty; Goal 2: Zero Hunger; Goal 3: Good Health and Wellbeing; Goal 5: Gender Equality; Goal 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth; Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities; Goal 16: Peace and Justice Strong Institutions.
