A survey by academic research organisation the Gauteng City-Region Observatory (GCRO) reveals, besides other things, that children being kept out of school as a result of Covid-19 is impacting on poorer households to a greater extent because of a lack of access to computers and Internet.
GCRO operations and partnerships manager Melinda Swift said the organisation focused on a quality of life index as a measure of wellbeing, rather than just on national economic measures.
She spoke during a webinar on rebuilding South Africa’s economy, hosted by the Mapungubwe Institute and GCRO on October 28, during which she also highlighted some findings of GCRO’s flagship yearly quality of life surveys, with results of the sixth survey released in September.
Over 13 500 respondents in the Gauteng city region and from each of the 529 wards in the province shared data on multi-dimensional variables, with the survey finding that three out of every five households with children under the age of 18 do not have a working computer, and four out of every five of these households do not have a home Internet connection.
She also noted that, as a result of the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy, the survey was looked at with a screening tool for depression, which found that 14% of Gauteng’s residents were at high risk of depression. “This is an increase from the previous survey.”
Five major economic impacts were found to impact individual’s levels of depression, including a reduction in salary or working hours, loss of a job, closing of a business, searching for work and spending more time looking after children or family, and personal health.
As such, Swift said individuals who experienced at least one of these five economic impacts were far more likely than the average person to suffer from depression.
As a result, she stated that mental health services should be prioritising Gauteng’s economic recovery, although Swift also noted that the overburdened public healthcare system was struggling to cope with the pandemic and even basic healthcare needs were going unmet.
Further, GCRO’s research shows that the fallout from Covid-19, and general economic conditions, are leading to substantial hardships in households across Gauteng.
“These findings provide us with clues as to where our rebuild efforts should be concentrated,” she said.
Eleven per cent of all adults in Gauteng have lost a job since March 2020, while 4% were forced to permanently close a business. Nineteen per cent took a cut in salary and working hours since March 2020.
“Importantly, of those who had lost a job or closed a business, 50% have been unable to find new work, [while] 7% have dropped entirely out of the labour market,” noted Swift.
The research also found that over half of households surveyed experienced some level of food insecurity, with 18% experiencing severe food insecurity.
Also, the proportion of Gauteng’s households living below the average poverty line has risen to 36% - an increase from 25% in the 2017/18 year which was the last time a quality of life survey was run.
Therefore, she questioned how vulnerable households had been able to survive, and noted that, in this instance, the role of the State has been crucial, not only in continuing to provide the infrastructure and services that made urban life possible, but also through safety nets to help households meet their needs in the absence of sufficient work.
In total, almost half of Gauteng respondents (48%) reported someone in their household receiving a social grant of some kind – this was up from 42% in the 2017/18 survey.
In this regard, Swift also pointed out that, in May 2020, the Covid-19 social relief of distress grant was introduced for people who were unemployed. The survey found that almost a quarter (23%) of respondents indicated that someone in their household was receiving this R350 grant.
However, while grants were “no doubt essential” to those who received them, she said R350 was one-tenth of the minimum wage and, as such, was not a replacement for decently-paid employment.