Angus Shaw
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwean officials on Monday said it takes nearly $500 a month for families to be above the poverty line in this economically ravaged country, where most teachers and government workers earn less than half that amount.
The findings from the state statistics agency throw more weight behind the grievances of Zimbabwe's nearly 240,000 civil servants and other workers who plan to go on strike. Their average monthly incomes are around $200, well below what the agency says is now needed to support a family of five.
The former regional breadbasket is struggling to emerge from economic collapse and international isolation after President Robert Mugabe ordered the seizures of thousands of white-owned farms in 2000, disrupting the country's agriculture-based economy.
While Zimbabwe is no longer experiencing the world-record inflation of years past, the cost of living is still growing faster than most people's salaries.
In its latest bulletin, the agency Zimstat said a family of five needed a monthly income of $467 if it was to be defined as "not poor" and able to meet basic needs. That figure includes expenses for food, housing clothing, transportation, and education and health care.
The report did not account for one expense that appears to have become a necessity even for the poorest of the poor: mobile phones. Street vendors say they need phones to help them eke out a living buying and selling their wares.
A state regulatory body said more than two-thirds of the population — even beggars and street children — own 7 million mobile phones.
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