Most SA women suffer financial stress – survey

THREE out of four South Africans feel money-stress, with women in particular admitting to the effects of financial stress at home, work and on their health.

This is according to the findings of the 2023 Money Stress Tracker survey conducted by DebtBuster on how financial stress affects aspects of South African’s lives.

There were over 35 000 respondents to this online survey conducted among a representative sample of South African consumers who are currently not under debt counselling.

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Compared to 2022 both women and men are 10% – 15% more stressed about their finances, work life, home life and health.

A further four out of five female respondents said they suffered financial stress.

Psychotherapist and Transactional Analyst, Diane Salters, said there may be two reasons for a higher proportion of women than men reporting high stress levels.

“Firstly, women are often carrying more of the burden of family care and responsibility than men. Secondly, women are more likely to admit to feeling stressed than men and reach out for help. Social conditioning often stops men from admitting they need help. Worldwide, women are more likely to use health services and social programmes. This is good because it means that women are more likely to get and use any help available,” explains Diane.

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The survey also showed that people who are younger and with lower incomes feel the most stressed and anxious about money, although stress levels in respondents aged between 45 – 54 showed a 23% increase compared to 2022.

Lower-income earners are the most stressed, while those who earn more have high levels of unsustainable debt.

This year, interest rate increases featured for the first time as one of the main contributors to money stress. The other top reasons were unexpected expenses, inflation and living costs, the impact of load shedding, school fees and retirement.

“We advise consumers not to use more than 30% of their take-home pay on debt repayments. Sixty-two percent of respondents in the two highest income bands we surveyed are spending between 40% or more of their income to service debt. This is simply too much, especially in a high-interest, high-inflation environment,” says Benay Sager, head of DebtBusters.

Of the 78% of respondents who said they feel money-stress (up from 70% in 2022), 94% said it was impacting their home life, 78% work life and 77%  health – a clear indication that money stress results in other types of stress.

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