IDEAS21

According to a report by the African Development Bank:

“In 2010, 34.3% of the African population, or 313 million people, were classified as middle class, compared with 26.2% or 111 million people in 1980… The class is defined as those who spend between $2 and $20 a day, a range the bank says is appropriate given the cost of living in the world’s poorest continent.”

Meanwhile, in the United States “the poverty level for 2011 was set at $22,350 (total yearly income) for a family of four”, which translates to $15.3 per person per day.

So is the way to solve US poverty is to let them live in mud huts and eat maize, so their ‘overheads’ are lower? Then by African standards they’ll be back in the middle class.

By comparison, the poverty line in SA is about R500 per person per month ($2 a day). Almost half of our population of 50 million live below the poverty line, despite SA being categorised as an “upper-middle income country”. We are one of the most unequal societies in the world, and income inequality has deteriorated since 1994.

Where would you rather be poor?