Hidden Cost Index
About & FAQ · hiddencostindex.co.za
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About Hidden Cost Index

HiddenCostIndex.co.za exists to make one thing measurable: how much of a household's income is silently diverted into security, load shedding, private healthcare, transport and crime-related costs just to maintain a basic standard of living in South Africa.

What this project is

  • A descriptive model of household-level "system failure costs".
  • A public dashboard that anyone can use to run their own numbers.
  • A way to compare South African cities to each other and to global cities.
  • A starting point for media, researchers and policymakers to quantify what is usually anecdotal.

What it is not

  • Not financial advice, a tax calculator or a budgeting service.
  • Not a replacement for professional financial planning.
  • Not an official government or corporate index.
  • Not a prediction model; it describes current structure, not future outcomes.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Hidden Cost Index political?
The index is descriptive. It does not endorse parties, policies or candidates. It simply quantifies how much money households spend on survival requirements such as security, backup power and private health, on top of normal living costs and taxes. What to do with that information is a separate conversation.
Where do the numbers come from?
Personal results are based entirely on user-entered figures. Scenario comparisons (Johannesburg, Cape Town, Melbourne, Shenzhen) use stylised, rounded values derived from public data, cost-of-living datasets and typical household profiles. The exact assumptions are documented in the city comparison tab and methodology page.
Can I rely on this for financial decisions?
No. The tool is designed for awareness and comparison. It can highlight structural pressure on a household, but it does not replace detailed budgeting, tax planning or professional financial advice.
Do you store my data?
The prototype calculator runs entirely in your browser. No personal financial data is transmitted to a server or stored centrally. If this changes in a future release (for example, to support saved profiles or aggregate statistics), it will be clearly disclosed and governed by a privacy policy.
Can I use the index in reports or articles?
Yes. You are welcome to reference the Hidden Cost Index and screenshot or cite dashboard outputs, provided you attribute "HiddenCostIndex.co.za" and do not misrepresent the model's scope. For formal publications, linking to the methodology page is recommended.
Will there be an API?
The roadmap includes a simple API for city-level HCI benchmarks and scenario data, so that journalists, researchers and developers can integrate the index into their own tools. Details will appear here once stabilised.

Contact & feedback

This project is evolving. Real-world feedback from households, practitioners and researchers is essential if the index is going to stay honest and useful.

For comments on the model, suggestions or collaboration enquiries, you can reach the maintainer at:
info@hiddencostindex.co.za

Disclaimer

HiddenCostIndex.co.za is provided "as is", without any warranty. Use it at your own risk. No liability is accepted for decisions made on the basis of the index, the dashboard, or any associated documentation.

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