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)

References

  1. ↑ "Living Standards Measure". South African Audience Research Foundation. South African Audience Research Foundation. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  2. ↑ Ruch, Werner (July 2014). "Measuring poverty in SA" (PDF). The Fieldworker. Vol. 5. Stats SA. Retrieved 20 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "South Africa Overview". The World Bank. The World Bank. Retrieved 20 December 2016.


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