Household saving and wealth in South Africa

Background: A detailed picture of the saving behaviour of South African households would enable researchers to determine whether households are proactively attempting to safeguard themselves financially. Aim: Of this article is to analyse household saving(s), using both an income-statement (saving)...

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Autores principales: Fanie Joubert, Theo Van der Merwe
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Lenguaje:EN
Publicado: AOSIS 2021
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Acceso en línea:https://doaj.org/article/d1c62c2c2218433e8950aa619116fbb6
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spelling oai:doaj.org-article:d1c62c2c2218433e8950aa619116fbb62021-12-02T19:49:54ZHousehold saving and wealth in South Africa1015-88122222-343610.4102/sajems.v24i1.3764https://doaj.org/article/d1c62c2c2218433e8950aa619116fbb62021-10-01T00:00:00Zhttps://sajems.org/index.php/sajems/article/view/3764https://doaj.org/toc/1015-8812https://doaj.org/toc/2222-3436Background: A detailed picture of the saving behaviour of South African households would enable researchers to determine whether households are proactively attempting to safeguard themselves financially. Aim: Of this article is to analyse household saving(s), using both an income-statement (saving) and a balance-sheet (savings or wealth) approach, while investigating the link between the two as well. Setting: The perception that households are ‘dis-savers’ without really delving into the details, definitions, or reasons why this may or may not be the case. This notion is proven superficial as it ignores various interacting definitional and measurement issues. Methods: A descriptive analytical methodology is applied to household saving (flow) and savings (stock or wealth) in the period 1995 to 2018, with the focus on macro-economics, while data are sourced from the South African System of National Accounts (SNA). Results: Findings include a long-term decline in net household saving to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which turned negative in 2006, so that dissaving occurred. In contrast, household wealth recorded an average nominal increase of 10.3% in the period 1995 to 2018. Focusing on the link between the two concepts, it is confirmed that net revaluation of assets plays a prominent role to support the rise in wealth, while the role of saving diminishes over time. Therefore, the need for additional methodological updates is highlighted. More research is required on the various possible factors driving household income and expenditure trends, and their sustainability. The contribution of household saving to total saving should be evaluated in detail.Fanie JoubertTheo Van der MerweAOSISarticlehousehold savinghousehold wealththeories on savingsouth african system of national accountsManagement. Industrial managementHD28-70BusinessHF5001-6182Economics as a scienceHB71-74ENSouth African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, Vol 24, Iss 1, Pp e1-e10 (2021)
institution DOAJ
collection DOAJ
language EN
topic household saving
household wealth
theories on saving
south african system of national accounts
Management. Industrial management
HD28-70
Business
HF5001-6182
Economics as a science
HB71-74
spellingShingle household saving
household wealth
theories on saving
south african system of national accounts
Management. Industrial management
HD28-70
Business
HF5001-6182
Economics as a science
HB71-74
Fanie Joubert
Theo Van der Merwe
Household saving and wealth in South Africa
description Background: A detailed picture of the saving behaviour of South African households would enable researchers to determine whether households are proactively attempting to safeguard themselves financially. Aim: Of this article is to analyse household saving(s), using both an income-statement (saving) and a balance-sheet (savings or wealth) approach, while investigating the link between the two as well. Setting: The perception that households are ‘dis-savers’ without really delving into the details, definitions, or reasons why this may or may not be the case. This notion is proven superficial as it ignores various interacting definitional and measurement issues. Methods: A descriptive analytical methodology is applied to household saving (flow) and savings (stock or wealth) in the period 1995 to 2018, with the focus on macro-economics, while data are sourced from the South African System of National Accounts (SNA). Results: Findings include a long-term decline in net household saving to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which turned negative in 2006, so that dissaving occurred. In contrast, household wealth recorded an average nominal increase of 10.3% in the period 1995 to 2018. Focusing on the link between the two concepts, it is confirmed that net revaluation of assets plays a prominent role to support the rise in wealth, while the role of saving diminishes over time. Therefore, the need for additional methodological updates is highlighted. More research is required on the various possible factors driving household income and expenditure trends, and their sustainability. The contribution of household saving to total saving should be evaluated in detail.
format article
author Fanie Joubert
Theo Van der Merwe
author_facet Fanie Joubert
Theo Van der Merwe
author_sort Fanie Joubert
title Household saving and wealth in South Africa
title_short Household saving and wealth in South Africa
title_full Household saving and wealth in South Africa
title_fullStr Household saving and wealth in South Africa
title_full_unstemmed Household saving and wealth in South Africa
title_sort household saving and wealth in south africa
publisher AOSIS
publishDate 2021
url https://doaj.org/article/d1c62c2c2218433e8950aa619116fbb6
work_keys_str_mv AT faniejoubert householdsavingandwealthinsouthafrica
AT theovandermerwe householdsavingandwealthinsouthafrica
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