ABSTRACT
Any discussion of changes in the income status of the middle class in South Africa
depends on how the term ‘middle class’ is defined. In previous work (Visagie &
Posel, 2013), I have shown how the common practice of defining the middle class as
‘the relatively affluent’ is inconsistent with a focus on those in the actual middle of
the distribution of income. Widespread poverty and income inequality in South Africa
imply that households which are in the middle in terms of their income status are still
a long way off from what is deemed a middle-class standard of living. In fact, those
in the middle still are quite poor.
