Red flags on domestic worker wages in South Africa – how much should you pay domestic helpers who are struggling to cope with the rising cost of living in the country
Headline CPI for September 2022 is 7.5%, down slightly from 7.6% in August. Core inflation – excluding food and fuel – was weaker at 4.7% in month.
The basket of goods and services is tracked by Stats SA to measure changes in inflation over time, and the September basket includes wages for domestic workers. The wages of domestic workers are tracked for the months of March, June, September and December.
Worryingly, domestic worker wage inflation was only 3.8% year on year. This rate is far below headline CPI and core CPI and shows that wages paid to domestic workers in the country are not keeping up with headline or core inflation.
Wage inflation was tracked at 3.5% in June (versus headline CPI at 7.4%, core inflation at 4.4%) and 2.9% in March (vs headline CPI at 5.9%, core inflation at 3.8%), showing a consistent trend of domestic worker wages falling short of core and headline inflation by 0.9 percentage points and 3.0 to 3.9 percentage points, respectively.
| Month | Headline inflation | Core inflation | Domestic worker wages | Headline difference | Core difference |
| September 2022 | 7.5% | 4.7% | 3.8% | -3.7 pp | -0.9 pp |
| June 2022 | 7.4% | 4.4% | 3.5% | -3.9 pp | -0.9 pp |
| March 2022 | 5.9% | 3.8% | 2.9% | -3.0 pp | -0.9 pp |
Domestic workers are already low-income in South Africa, with wage data from SweepSouth in August showing the average worker earning just R2,997 a month.
Wages in this sector are in line with the national minimum wage by 2022.
As of March 1, 2022, the national minimum wage for ordinary hours worked has been reduced from R21.69 to Rs 23.19. For domestic workers, the minimum wage increase has been much larger, from Rs 19.09 per hour, or 88% of the national minimum wage in 2021.
Assume one maid family work 160 hours per month (eight hours per day, 20 days per month), monthly salary is R3,710 for month.
However, as the SweepSouth Inquiry noted, domestic workers are often mistreated by their employers and tasked with working longer hours – on weekends – and taking on more tasks beyond technical skills. their abilities, such as child care.
Data from the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice and Dignity group shows that the nutritious food basket for a household of 4 arrived at R3,247.23 in September, leaving little money for other necessities. such as transportation, utilities and personal care products.
Employment under pressure
Statistics South Africa’s latest Quarterly Workforce Survey (QLFS) shows that hiring of domestic workers remains below last year’s levels, despite the number of workers employed. rent increased.
QLFS shows that the number of domestic workers in the country increased from 808,000 in Q1 2022 to 858,000 in Q2 2022, adding an additional 50,000 workers to the sector.
However, although this represents a 6.2% increase from the previous quarter, it is still down from the same period last year, when 900,000 domestic workers were employed, a decrease of almost 4 % compared with the same period last year.
While this trend can be partly attributed to seasonal variations, an increase in the cost of living in 2022 is also likely to lead to an increase in layoffs, as domestic workers are seen as luxuries for most people.
