Job creation - the national imperative: Are people's lives better or worse?

One of the issues RS examined concerned how people feel about the Government's progress in creating jobs and improving the lives and standard of living of people in South Africa. People were asked to disagree or agree with a number of statements on this issue.

There is no more important issue than job creation

In the February study, people were asked if the Government has done a good job reducing unemployment:

• "Government has done a good job reducing unemployment."
  • Agree - 29%
    • Blacks - 38%
    • Whites, coloureds and Indian - 13%
  • Disagree - 64%
  • Don't know - 7%

This sentiment is echoed in the July study:

• "Do you think that the Government is creating jobs fast enough?"
  • Yes - 13%
    • Blacks - 15%
    • Whites - 10%
    • Coloureds - 8%
    • Indians - 17%

  • No - 81%

  • Don't know - 6%

Whilst it is clearly not only Government that plays a role in job creation, there is no doubt that it does play a major role in creating the necessary climate for job creation. The views expressed by people clearly show that this is not yet enough and that, moving forward, job creation needs to be massively speeded up.

A national imperative

In the third quarter of 2005, the job market continued to be the most pessimistically viewed part of our economy with a massive 94% of South African metro adults saying that "jobs are hard to find at the moment". This figure has not moved significantly in three years. However, 28% feel that jobs will be easier to find in the next six months, compared with only 14% in early 2002.

Hence, whilst we see that movement has occurred, much more needs to be done, with a great sense of urgency. It is such a major issue that RS feels that it is a national imperative. Every person needs to ask themselves what she or he is doing to contribute to job creation.

Standard of living - has it really improved?

This question needs to be examined in two ways: first, how do people themselves perceive their lives to be going, and secondly, how does their quality of life look according to more objective measures?

In the February study, responses were mixed:

• "Government has improved the standard of living for all South Africans."
  • Agree - 52%
    • Blacks - 66%
    • Whites - 23%
    • Coloureds - 36%
    • Indians - 23%

  • Disagree - 44%

  • Don't know - 4%

Whilst there are strong differences between the different race groups, it is encouraging to note that the most positive response is from those previously the most disadvantaged.

In the July study, when RS looked at purely monetary issues, the results were not so positive:

• "When it comes to money do you think that you are better off, worse off or the same today as you were a year ago?"
  • Better - 23%
    • Blacks - 25%
    • Whites - 15%
    • Coloureds - 24%
    • Indians - 22%

  • Worse - 43%
  • The same - 30%

  • Don't know - 3%

This sentiment can be due to many things. RS regularly tracks how people feel about their economic circumstances (prices, economic circumstances, availability of jobs and business conditions). In the third quarter of 2005, there were poorer perceptions over prices and inflation, resulting in people feeling that their economic circumstances are poorer than before. This has come after a notable period of fuel price increases as well as a rise in CPIX to 4.8% in August compared with 3.5% in June, largely fueled by the oil price.

Balanced against this is a feeling that business conditions have improved in the last year.

Income improvement expectations are higher now than the same time last year - no doubt leading to the recent spate of wage-related strikes.

After jobs, prices rank the second highest in terms of people's concerns over the economy. Eight out of ten people consistently say that prices are rising faster than their incomes and only two out of ten feel that their income is keeping up with inflation. These figures are consistent across all race groups.

Not enough to eat?

RS has been tracking people's overall quality of life in a number of domains since 2002. At present, one in five adult South Africans say that they cannot afford to eat the correct foods. This rises to one on four of people over 50 years old and one in three of those at the bottom end of the income ladder and those unemployed. Again, we see the job creation imperative. Even in metro areas, 15% of people say that they do not have enough to eat.

In Soweto and in the Vaal Triangle, 25% of people cannot afford to eat the correct foods, compared to only 7% in Pretoria and Durban/Pietermaritzburg. However, once we moved outside the cities and towns, we found that the figure rose to 29% in rural villages and to an alarming 35% in rural farm worker's quarters. At a broader provincial level, the worst figures were recorded in the Northern Cape (34%) and Limpopo (32%) and the best in the Western Cape (14%) and KwaZulu-Natal (14%).

Poverty, poverty and more poverty

RS runs an annual quality of life study across the entire country - cities, towns and rural areas - using a sample of 3 500 people (margin of error of under 2%) that looks specifically at poverty levels via a special poverty index that is based on the provision of basic services (water, sanitation, power), access to telecommunications and transport, and adequacy of nutrition. This index runs from zero to one hundred where a high score indicates the most poverty-stricken. The advantage of this index over income data is that -