Democracy & Social Justice

The Household Affordability Index is produced by the Pietermaritzburg Economic Justice & Dignity Group, a Civil Society initiative that focuses on issues of economic justice, the low-wage regime and the increasing household affordability and food price crisis, with its attendant nutritional deficiencies, health and developmental consequences, and the lack of imaginative policy and systemic responses to deal with this crisis. The Household Food Basket has been designed together with women living on low incomes in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Mtubatuba (in Northern KwaZulu-Natal), and Springbok (in the Northern Cape). It includes the foods and the volumes of these foods which women living in a family of seven members (an average low-income household size) tell us they typically try and secure each month. Food prices are tracked directly by women data collectors off the shelves of 47 supermarkets and 32 butcheries. The selection of supermarkets and food brands is dynamic and subjective. Women are smart and savvy shoppers and shop around for bargains. This specific methodology provides an accurate cost of a monthly household food basket, as purchased by women living on low incomes.