MANILA – The Philippines is one of the worst countries to live for minimum wage earners, according to a recent study.
Picodi, an e-commerce firm conducted a study to take a look at the minimum wages in various countries. The goal is to find out if minimum wage is enough to afford the minimum comfort of living.
The Philippines ranked 17 out of 54 countries included in the report. In 2020, the monthly net pay is 10.2 percent higher than in the previous year (₱5,922 compared to ₱5,376 for a full-time employee, based on the lowest possible wage).
Neighboring countries such as Malaysia only had a minimum wage increase of 9.1 percent while Thailand only had 1.6 percent increase this month.
However, the prices of commodities and services in the Philippines put these minimum wage earners still at disadvantage. The food in the country is priced so high that it uses up a huge chunk of their salaries.
According to Picodi's study, minimum wage earners in the Philippines use up 75.1 percent of the minimum net pay on basic food items alone. With last year’s prices, the same products made 81.3 percent of the minimum wage at that time. It means that in the Philippines, the increase in wages outran the increase in prices.
Because of the disparity in the ratio of food prices and minimum wage, the Philippines ranked 52nd out of 54 countries.
Picodi ranked Australia as having the best ratio of food prices to the minimum wage. It was followed by the United Kingdom and Ireland. In these countries, the basic food products only consumes around 7 percent of the workers' monthly minimum wage.
There are also more unfortunate countries like Nigeria and Uzbekistan where the monthly minimum wage was so low that it could not even afford the entire cost of the worker's most basic needs.
For more details on the study, you can visit Picodi's official website.
— Sally, The Summit Express
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| PH ranked no.17 in minimum wage increase from 2019 to 2020 | Photo Courtesy: Picodi |
Picodi, an e-commerce firm conducted a study to take a look at the minimum wages in various countries. The goal is to find out if minimum wage is enough to afford the minimum comfort of living.
The Philippines ranked 17 out of 54 countries included in the report. In 2020, the monthly net pay is 10.2 percent higher than in the previous year (₱5,922 compared to ₱5,376 for a full-time employee, based on the lowest possible wage).
Neighboring countries such as Malaysia only had a minimum wage increase of 9.1 percent while Thailand only had 1.6 percent increase this month.
 |
| Minimum wage earners in the Philippines use up 75% of their salary on food alone | Photo Courtesy: Picodi |
However, the prices of commodities and services in the Philippines put these minimum wage earners still at disadvantage. The food in the country is priced so high that it uses up a huge chunk of their salaries.
According to Picodi's study, minimum wage earners in the Philippines use up 75.1 percent of the minimum net pay on basic food items alone. With last year’s prices, the same products made 81.3 percent of the minimum wage at that time. It means that in the Philippines, the increase in wages outran the increase in prices.
Because of the disparity in the ratio of food prices and minimum wage, the Philippines ranked 52nd out of 54 countries.
Picodi ranked Australia as having the best ratio of food prices to the minimum wage. It was followed by the United Kingdom and Ireland. In these countries, the basic food products only consumes around 7 percent of the workers' monthly minimum wage.
There are also more unfortunate countries like Nigeria and Uzbekistan where the monthly minimum wage was so low that it could not even afford the entire cost of the worker's most basic needs.
For more details on the study, you can visit Picodi's official website.
— Sally, The Summit Express
