The proposal to split salaries into two monthly payments has captured public attention. But it risks treating the symptom instead of the disease.
The latest Namibia Financial Inclusion Survey paints a far more troubling picture than poor money management. It reveals a country where three out of every four adults cannot make their income last until the next payday.
The question is not whether people should be paid twice a month. The real question is: how can people survive when wages continue to lag behind the rising cost of living?
The numbers are alarming. More than 54% of Namibian adults earn N$2,000 or less per month, while only 8.1% earn more than N$11,000. These figures point to an economy that is failing to create enough well-paying jobs capable of lifting people out of poverty.
Despite years of economic strategies, investment promotion campaigns and promises of inclusive growth, too many Namibians remain trapped in low-income work while the prices of food, transport, housing, electricity and municipal services continue to rise.
The reality is simple: when almost every dollar earned goes towards essential expenses, salaries disappear within days of payday. Splitting a salary into two instalments does not increase purchasing power. It merely spreads financial pressure across the month.
A N$2,000 salary divided into two payments of N$1,000 does not make groceries cheaper. It does not reduce transport costs, lower rent, cut electricity bills or offset rising municipal tariffs. Arithmetic cannot solve an affordability crisis.
Government itself has acknowledged that thousands of lower-grade public servants are trapped in debt because their salaries are insufficient to meet basic living costs. Many have become dependent on micro-lenders and, in some cases, illegal loan sharks simply to survive.
That is not evidence of poor budgeting. It is evidence of an economy that is not generating enough quality jobs or wages that keep pace with inflation.
This should force a broader conversation about whether current economic policies are producing the kind of growth that benefits ordinary citizens. Economic growth means little if it does not translate into decent-paying employment and rising household incomes.
The public appears to understand this. Nearly 72% of respondents in The Brief’s poll rejected the proposal to split salaries, recognising that the problem lies far deeper than payroll schedules.
Namibia’s priority should not be changing payday. It should be reforming policies that stimulate labour-intensive investment, improve productivity, support higher-value industries, raise wages, reduce the cost of living and protect households from spiralling debt.
Namibia does not have a payday problem. It has an income, jobs and cost-of-living crisis.
