The Decent Standard of Living (DSL) project drew on international best practices to create a way to define exactly what is needed for people in South Africa to live without struggle – a decent life – and then to use this to measure the number of people in South Africa who have access to this life and the percentage of people who do not. This is a tool that helps policy makers, researchers, the media and oversight actors alike in our common commitment to advance a decent life for all in South Africa.

We devised a study which contains a set of indicators, or Socially Perceived Necessities (SPNs), which survey participants deemed essential to live a decent life. These SPNs include material things such as a fridge or a fence around your property, as well as less tangible items such as someone to look after you when you are ill.

From this list of SPNs, we were able to calculate the amount of monthly income you would need to live a decent life. As of September 2021, the median per capita income associated with a decent standard of living is R7 911.

.