Take-home pay increased most in 7 years - but the typical employee didn't feel it

The average real monthly take-home pay was R14 500 in March, which is the highest inflation adjusted average take-home pay in the near seven-year history of the latest BankservAfrica Take-home Pay Index.

However, the report also notes that in March 2019 the median (or typical) employee did not actually feel this increase.

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The median employee refers to the person that is earning take-home pay where 50% earns less than them and 50% earns more than them. The typical take-home salary was just over R10 043 in March. This is the lowest number since April 2018.
 
Moreover, the typical employee banked a salary that was 1.3% less than a year ago after adjusting for inflation.

The average take-home pay of employees paid via the National Payments System, as recorded by BankservAfrica, increased in real terms by 4.4% y/y in March.

The average take-home salary before adjusting for inflation also reached a new high of R15 812 for March and recorded a 8.7% year-on-year (y/y) increase. This is the second highest growth since the start of the BankservAfrica Take-home Pay Index.

The number of people who banked more than R40 000 in March increased by 15% on a y/y basis while the number earning less than R12 000 but more than R6 000 per month declined by about 6%.

The number of take-home pay employees earning between R4 000 to R6 000 increased by 6.5% on a y/y basis.

• READ: It will take 180 years to double your salary in real terms - report

Pensions

BankservAfrica also measures the private pensions of South Africans. This showed a 2.2% y/y increase in March.
The estimated number of pensioners paid via the payment system was 693 689. BankservAfrica's Private Pensions Index (BPPI) represents about 70% of all banked private pensions in South Africa.
   
Although slightly down on the February value of R7 020, March's R6 962 is still the fourth-highest ever recorded real average banked pension in the BPPI.
 
In nominal terms, the average pension was R7 527 for March 2019.

"Pension remains a growing source of consumer income," states the index report.

The average pension is 48.9% of the average take-home salary.