M4Jam asked 1000 South Africans about the cost of living and how they are coping.

For many, who have either lost regular work as a result of lockdown restrictions and social distancing or cannot find work thanks to economic devastation, rising costs are threatening their survival.

• Those with little to no regular household income are finding it harder to get by in 2021. 86% of survey respondents – from among M4Jam’s registered jobbers, who contract for temporary and short-term work via the platform – were aged 18-34, with 20% earning no regular household income from the formal economy.
   
• The survey responses paint a worrying picture of affordability for the millions of South Africans being pushed toward the poverty line by a pandemic that has forced the closure of businesses by the hundreds.
   
• Most of the qualitative feedback from our jobbers pointed to personal financial crises which reflect an economy which was technically in recession even before Covid-19 made its presence felt.
   
• 30% of respondents were breadwinners, while 70% either relied on a partner in their household to contribute toward costs or had no income.
   
• Calculating how much the cost of household essentials like food, utilities and transport had grown since the onset of Covid-19, 32% of respondents said their monthly costs had risen by up to R800, while 17% had watched their monthly costs rise between R800 and R2000. 10% said their spending on essentials had inflated by more than R2000 per month.
   

Download the full survey HERE