The difference between a R15 000 living wage and the minimum wage

Although many people criticised the newly calculated living wage because they believe it is still too hard to make ends meet on R15 000 per month, an expert says they should pause and think how difficult life is for workers in South Africa who earn even less.

Professor Ines Meyer from the University of Cape Town, spokesperson for the Living Wage South Africa Network, recently announced that the network calculated that people living in urban areas need a monthly income of R15 000 after deductions to live a decent life.

The living wage is one that is sufficient for a worker to provide the basic necessities of life for themselves and their families and save something for the future or cover unforeseen emergency expenses.

This is different from the national minimum wage that employers are legally compelled to pay their workers which rarely satisfies their fundamental needs. By contrast, employers are encouraged to offer a living wage voluntarily.

The amount of R15 000 is calculated against the self-reported quality of life of low-earning survey participants across South Africa.

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Mixed reception to living wage of R15 000

Meyer says this amount was met with mixed reception. “A number of people insisted that R15 000 could never cover their monthly obligations. I understand this sentiment. It is hard to make ends meet on R15 000, yet most South African workers earn even less. “

The National Minimum Wage is R27,58 an hour and R220,64 for an 8-hour day. In July 2024, with 23 working days, the maximum National Minimum Wage for a general worker was R5 074,72.

“The legally prescribed national minimum wage comes to only one-third of the living wage. If it is difficult to live on R15 000 per month, how must people whose income is even lower get by? The Living Wage South Africa Network encourages the public and employers to consider the plight of these earners who struggle to afford the bare essentials the rest of us take for granted,” Meyer says.

“The living wage offers people the opportunity to live a ‘decent’ life in the sense that it gives people a choice over areas of life that matter to them. We complain about living month-to-month but many low-earning families survive from morning to morning.”

The network encourages employers to pay the living wage voluntarily as an act of human decency.

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The tremendous difference R15 000 could make

Meyer says even relief programmes, such as basic free electricity, are restricted and require an applicant to be identified as an indigent. Therefore, Meyer says, you would have to remain in poverty just to qualify for them.

“It is not hard to see what a tremendous difference R15 000 could make to their existence and their dignity as humans. Unfortunately, employers continue to measure a worker’s worth by the value their labour offers the company based on job gradings and benchmarks and not their inherent value as living beings.”

Meyer says this kind of thinking developed almost a century ago when the world looked very different to today. “We must sincerely question this outdated thinking and create a cultural threshold where compassion for our fellow humans aligns with corporate ambition.”

She emphasises that paying individuals at the bottom end of the income spectrum a living wage indicates that we value them. “Contrary to popular belief, this increased wage bill often leads to improved, rather than diminished, financial performance for companies.”