• Employment creation becomes very prudent because it helps to provide families with income.
• Without employment, it still becomes difficult for families to afford the cost of living.
• Handling the cost of living should be a multi-faceted approach.

Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) says employment creation plays a critical role in addressing the cost of living.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, JCTR Social and Economic Development Programme Manager Chama Mundia said when dealing with the high cost of living, it is important to look at incomes that families are getting on a daily or monthly basis.
Ms. Mundia stated that employment creation is very important because it provides families with the much needed income for them to be able to afford the cost of living.
She said without employment, it still becomes difficult for families to afford the cost of living even if prices of essential commodities are stabilized or reduced.
“When you speak to the cost of living, it also matters to the incomes that families are getting, so then employment creation becomes very prudent because then it helps to provide families with the much needed income for them to be able to afford the cost of living.”
“Because even if for example you keep prices stable or you reduce the prices but if families are struggling to gain an income on a day to day basis or on a monthly basis they have no wages, it still becomes difficult for them to afford the cost of living,” Ms. Mundia noted.
Ms. Mundia added that handling the cost of living should be a multi-faceted approach which also addresses the cost of doing business in the country.
“Then it has to be a multi-faceted approach which addresses the cost of doing business, looking at agriculture and other inputs in the production chain but then also looking at stabilizing the exchange rate and the inflation so that, that way you have some stability.”
“But then you need to address the income or likelihood aspect of the household because then they will have something that can help them to meet their needs. So employment creation becomes very helpful,” she added.