Living Standards Measure Explained
The Living Standards Measure or LSM is a marketing and research tool (same as social economic class: SEC but more refine) used in South Africa to classify standard of living and disposable income. It segments the population into ten deciles based on their relative means, with LSM 1 being the decile with the least means and 10 being the decile with the greatest means. It does this by ranking people based on ownership of the components of a standard basket of goods (which varies over time). For instance, those people who owned a television set would rank higher in the LSM than those who did not.[1]
In effect, the LSM is an income inequality metric, despite specifically excluding income as one of the tested metric.[2] Its components are reflective of the fact that South Africa has a high Gini coefficient.[3]
Current variables
The current (2015) basket of variables used to calculate LSM is:
- Metropolitan dweller (250 000+)
- Living in a non-urban area
- House / cluster house / town house
- Tap water in house / on plot
- Flush toilet inside house
- Hot running water
- Built in kitchen sink
- No domestic workers or gardeners
- Home security service
- 2 cellphones in household
- 3 or more cellphones in household
- Zero or one radio set in household
- Air conditioner (excl. fans)
- Television set(s)
- Swimming pool
- DVD player / Blu Ray player
- Refrigerator or combined fridge/freezer
- Electric stove
- Microwave oven
- Deep freezer – free standing
- Washing machine
- Tumble dryer
- Dishwasher
- PayTV (M-net / DSTV / TopTV) subscription
- Home theatre system
- Vacuum cleaner
- Motor vehicle in household
- Computer – desktop / laptop
- Land line telephone (excl. cellphone)
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: Living Standards Measure. South African Audience Research Foundation. 20 December 2016.
- Werner. Ruch. Measuring poverty in SA. The Fieldworker. Stats SA. July 2014. 5. 20 December 2016.
- Web site: South Africa Overview. The World Bank. 20 December 2016.
