New survey reveals rising financial stress, with women hardest hit
The fifth annual Money Stress Tracker has revealed that women are significantly more worried about finances compared to their male counterparts, with their overall financial anxiety jumping by 8% compared to last year.
The survey, which had nearly 18,000 South Africans to assess how financial strain impacts home life, work, and health, showed that this disproportionate strain stems directly from the overlapping roles many women carry every single day.
Debt Busters Psychologist Andrea Kellerman revealed that while overall stress levels across all facets of life rose by 5% to 25% for both genders compared to 2025, women are significantly more overwhelmed, particularly in home life, work, and health.
Compared to men, women report higher stress about finances, more stress concerning work and home life, and a staggering higher stress level regarding their personal health.
"And then if we think of, for instance, women, women do work very hard. A lot of them are also breadwinners. But they also slip into different roles. For instance, the role of the mother, the role of the emotional caretaker. All of that is emotionally negative. So they would naturally feel it a lot more and be a lot more stressed and concerned about the future than men, maybe."
According to Kellerman, for women juggling household responsibilities alongside career expectations, this nonstop financial pressure erodes psychological resilience across generations.
Older South Africans worry that time is running out to break free from debt, while younger generations struggle to find hope or a sense of reward when their earnings are swallowed up by debt repayments before they can build a future.
"So the older people, as in their 50s, they feel that the time is running out to get out of this loop of paying off their debt. And also 40 per cent paying back of debt is completely not sustainable because you feel that you're working harder, but all the money goes into repaying debt," said Kellerman.
Kellerman also believes that, psychologically, young people need to feel a sense of purpose, progress, and security; however, when a large portion of their income goes towards repaying debt, they may feel that their hard work is not translating into meaningful progress or achieving their goals.
This imbalance between effort and reward can contribute to emotional exhaustion, reduced motivation, and a diminished sense of accomplishment, creating a cycle in which people feel increasingly discouraged about their financial future, she stated.
Benay Sager, CEO of DebtBusters, noted that 72% of surveyed South Africans report experiencing financial stress this year.
While still below the peak reached during the high-inflation and load-shedding crisis of 2023, the cascading effect on daily well-being remains alarming.
"So we're happy that it's not back to the levels of 2023, but we're not delighted that it's higher than last year, because I think this does have a, it does have a burden on the overall population. And I think of those who told us they were experiencing financial stress, then we wanted to know the knock-on impact affecting the other facets of their life," said Sager.
Kellerman believes this survey indicates that South Africans are finding ways to cope with ongoing financial pressure, but coping does not necessarily mean they are recovering from the impact of financial stress.
Money worries are increasingly affecting people’s emotions, relationships and outlook on life.
