#Middle class definition tv

Transnet pensioners who get a pension from the Transnet Second Defined Benefit Fund are the best example in South Africa of people who have slipped out of the middle class. It also entails sufficient provision for retirement that will continue to support a middle class lifestyle. Naturally this amount is not used every month, but should be accumulated for periodic expenses to maintain the property and improvements.īut the middle class challenge goes beyond keeping a middle class job.

The cost of maintaining a house inevitably amounts to 1% per annum of the replacement value of that house.Ī simple calculation shows that a family living in a house worth R1,2 million should budget annually R1 000 per month for the upkeep of its property. The neighbours must see that middle class has arrived.Īnother is neglecting to budget annually for house maintenance. There are many examples of middle class people living above their means. It is unfortunately true that the average middle class South African is only two pay cheques away from financial hardship. The first challenge to stay middle class is therefore to retain a middle class job. Middle class people borrow money to purchase things associated with middle class existence. And definitely not good forever.Īnd with what is good enough, often comes debt. What was good enough before is no longer good enough. More middle class trimmings follow a middle class existence. Simply put: in a middle class existence, expenditure follows income. A better house and better schools for the children.

#Middle class definition tv

A household equipped with gadgets and equipment using electricity (fridges, freezers, TV and the like). Middle class status results in a particular lifestyle. An upper middle class family is nearly seven times better off than a lower middle class family in terms of the classification above.īut with reaching middle class status comes new challenges. Likewise, it is a long reach from the lower middle class to the upper middle class. If this description is accepted, it is clear why people in poverty surviving on R17,50 per day (R2 100 per month for a family of four) desperately aspire to reach the middle class, albeit then the lower middle class. Middle class families can typically buy the things they need and will have money to spend as they please after they have purchased all necessities. This covers the range from lower to upper middle class as in the US.Ī general definition for a middle class existence in South Africa is discretionary expenditure. In the US an annual household income ranging from US$25 000 (R350 000) to US$75 000 (R1 million) will probably place people in the lower to upper middle class range.Įconomist Justin Visagie describes the South Africa middle class as a household of four persons with a total household income of between R5 600 and R40 000 per month after direct income tax. Likewise there are different categories of “middle class”. “And to think, he wasn’t even a rich man.” Who makes up the middle class