Statistics South Africa on respondents losing jobs or businesses due to Coronavirus Covid-19 Lockdown
20 May 2020
8,1% of respondents reported that they lost their jobs or had to close their businesses and 1,4% became unemployed, according to the Wave 2 survey on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment and income in South Africa released by Statistics South Africa. According to the report, almost nine in ten (89,5%) respondents who were employed before the national lockdown remained employed during the lockdown.
The survey also found a decrease in the proportion of respondents who usually derive their income from salaries and wages, as well as from own business during the lockdown. On the other hand, the results indicated an increase in the proportion of those who derived their incomes from savings and investments (increasing from 4,8% prior to the lockdown to 6,0% during the lockdown), loans from friends, family and/or businesses (increasing from 1,7% to 3,3%), and claims from UIF (increasing from 0,3% to 2,1%). The percentage of respondents who reported no income increased from 5,2% before the lockdown to 15,4% by the sixth week of national lockdown.
The survey further indicated that about a quarter of respondents (25,8%) reported that their incomes decreased during the national lockdown, while over half (56,2%) said that their income had stayed the same. Approximately one-third of respondents (33,4%) reported that COVID-19 and the national lockdown will have no impact on their ability to cover their financial obligations, while 18,7% and 18,2% of respondents indicated that it would have a major or moderate impact, respectively.
Most respondents who reported that their income reduced during the lockdown indicated that they reduced their spending during lockdown as a coping mechanism (74,9%). Other coping mechanisms that respondents used to compensate for the loss of income included accessing their savings (51,7%), relying on extended family members, friends and their communities (36,8%), and claiming from UIF (14,6%).