This situation has resulted in a decrease in per capita income, and increasing poverty and pressure on the welfare system to meet basic human needs. Inflation has affected the capacity of poor families to meet their needs. Further, low levels of economic growth and income are also associated with low levels of savings. This means that when individuals and families become vulnerable, they have limited resources on which to draw. Extreme inequality in the distribution of income exists among racial groups and households.
Great poverty exists alongside extreme wealth.
African households, households in rural areas, especially those headed by women in rural areas, are the most affected. Unequal income distribution has severely hampered development, particularly that of people in rural areas, who are generally poorer than their urban counterparts. In 1993 the average per capita income of rural Africans was only R151 per month, compared to metropolitan incomes of R335. Rural households rely mainly on remittances and state social grants for income. Remittances make up a tenth of household income and social grants account for about a quarter of household income in rural areas.