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Poverty widens as the cost of living escalates

    JOHANNESBURG

    The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has said an average family of six now needs a net minimum income of US $254 a month to survive, the ‘Daily News’ reported on Thursday. The ZCTU’s new poverty datum line is a sharp rise from last October’s US $154 a month, which was arrived at after a study by the Employers’ Confederation of Zimbabwe (ECZ). Lovemore Matombo, the ZCTU president, said: “The US $254 is based on the consumer price index (CPI)”.

    The CPI is the most common measure of inflation in Zimbabwe, based on income, consumption and expenditure. As of October last year, about 75 percent of Zimbabweans were classified as poor.

    The numbers are increasing with the worsening economic situation and rising unemployment. Matombo said the destruction of tuckshops by the commission running Harare last month added to the problem of poverty and unemployment in the city.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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