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One could begin to see the real damage of the pandemic to the South African economy reflected in wage payments. (Fake images)
- At the beginning of the Covid-19 shutdown, daily and weekly workers were the hardest hit.
- People earning R30,000 and less were the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.
- BankservAfrica’s latest take-home pay index shows that although things have improved since then, a full recovery in terms of wages is not expected anytime soon.
People earning R30,000 or less were hit the hardest by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the latest BankservAfrica Pay-to-Home Index (BTPI), and while things have improved since then, a full recovery is not in the works. up for grabs soon, he says.
“At the beginning of the Covid-19 shutdown, daily and weekly workers were hit the hardest with wage numbers falling to extremely low levels,” says Mike Schüssler, chief economist at economists.co.za, who compiles the index. “This is similar to what is being experienced around the world, where people with the lowest incomes were hit the hardest.”
July and June showed the largest number of drops in wages paid compared to April, which was the slightest. Schüssler explains that this is due to employee payments and employment figures that delay economic events by about a month and payroll, which is predefined by one or two months.
Therefore, the worst economic figures were recorded in April, but the worst salary figures were reflected in July, three months later. There was a 10.4% decrease between October 2020 and October 2019 in the number of wages paid. In July of this year there was a 34% decrease in the number of wages paid compared to July 2019, for example.
READ: No surprises, October inflation rises to 3.3%
The index, released on Wednesday, shows that wages in South Africa improved 3% year-on-year in real terms in October 2020. The average net salary was R14,773. FIU payments were not included in the index data figures. It does show that employment in the formal sector was negatively affected during the crisis. “With Covid-19 FIU TER payments ending in September 2020 and the number of employees left far fewer than before for the extended applications of October 2020, the index is in a better position to measure the actual amount of wages paid. “Shergeran Naidoo, BankservAfrica’s Director of Stakeholder Engagement, says in a statement.
In Schüssler’s view, the few remaining TERS payments may help consumer spending, but when these and the additional SASSA payments cease, one could begin to see the real damage of the pandemic to the South African economy reflected in the payments. of wages.
Regarding pensions, the BankservAfrica Private Pension Index (BPPI) shows that, for the fourth month in a row, private pensions paid into bank accounts in South Africa rose above the rate of inflation. Although the real monthly increase of 1.9% is the lowest in four months, it reflects that the average private pension continues to increase. The average real pension was R7 322, which was 57.4% of the real average wage that you take home. At the beginning of the BPPI, the average private pension was only 47% of the average salary. Private pensions have generally risen faster than wages over the past eight years, according to Schüssler.
