Covid-19 takes heavy toll on SA household incomes
TransUnion initiated a survey in South Africa to better understand the financial impact the Covid-19 crisis is having on consumers
NEW information released by a credit reporting agency shows that almost eight in 10 South Africans are struggling to pay their bills and foresee long-standing financial challenges as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
TransUnion initiated a survey in South Africa to better understand the financial impact the Covid-19 crisis is having on consumers.
The initial survey, which began in April and targeted 2 000 adults, marked the first in a planned series of ongoing research in the country.
The results showed that almost eight in 10 South Africans (79%) said their household income has already been negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Although the virus arrived in South African shores only two months ago, the economic impact has been such that seven per cent of South Africans said their income would be affected in the future, mostly owing to job losses.
The research found that some generations, particularly Millennials (those born between 1980 and 1994) and Gen Xers (born between 1965 and 1979), were more impacted financially than others.
While 89% of consumers who have had their household income impacted by Covid-19 are concerned about paying their bills, this increased to 92% for Millennials and 95% for Gen Xers.
On average, respondents said they will be short by about R7 000 in the near future.
When looking at the timing of expected shortfalls, 45% of all impacted consumers say it will be longer than one month, but less than three months, while 23% expect to feel the impact between two to four weeks from now.
The survey also found that one in 10 of the impacted respondents has already lost their job as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Younger generations were more affected by job losses.
In response to the financial challenges, 29% of respondents said they planned to use their savings to pay current bills.
A smaller number (22%) said they would borrow money from a friend or family member.
Additionally, 27% do not know how they are going to pay their bills or loans and 33% indicated they will only be able to pay a partial amount which they can afford.
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