Saturday, May 03, 2008 Pinoy family must earn P1T a day to live well
FROM P600 in 2005, a Filipino family with six members would need now at least P1,000 daily income to live decently.
A study conducted by labor group Partido ng Manggagawa (PM) indicated that in food alone, one family consumes over P500 a day and the remaining of the P933 cost of living in Metro Manila are being spent in electricity, water, telephone and education expenses of their children.
The study further showed that on a monthly basis, the husband and wife should have a combine income of P27,965 to feed their family, live decently and send their children to school.
"This study shows that the gap between the P362 minimum wage in the NCR (National Capital Region) and the present cost of living is already a terrible P571 or 160 percent of the ordinary wage. Even if both parents work -- which is the buy one, take one policy of the government -- then their combined income will not be enough to feed the entire family," said PM chairman Renato Magtubo.
The group likewise noted that a more thorough survey might reveal that the actual cost of living is higher than P933 since its study did not provide for savings and social security, which in the National Wages and Productivity Commission (NWPC) basket of goods and services constitutes 10 percent of the cost of living.
Moreover, PM's study did not include items such as leisure and recreation, and the family budget for health excluded medical expenses.
Magtubo said: "If we include such items and we must in a more accurate survey then the cost of living may reach P1000 per day and thus breach the three-digit mark."
"Also since we should not impose the burden of household chores and child rearing to the female parent, then the basket of goods should provide for a house-help. That is not anymore a luxury especially in the light of the insistence of the state that both parents must work instead of having just a single breadwinner," he said.
Meanwhile, Magtubo insisted that the wage increase must be legislated and across-the-board.
He added: "the National Wages and Productivity Council's estimate of the cost of living as of March 2008 that stands at P858 have to be updated in the light of this study and in the face of the inflation over the past month."
At the same time, PM said that even if the P80 wage petition is granted by the regional wage boards, or the P125 wage increase is passed by Congress then either will not be enough to bridge the yawning gap between the minimum wage and the cost of living.
"Thus it is necessary to combine direct wage increases with tax exemptions and subsidies on social security contributions and prices of basic goods in order to increase the take-home pay to a level near the cost of living," he added.
Likewise, the pending bill providing for tax exemptions of P200,000 for married couples is not enough but should be raised to P250,000 in individual tax breaks for wage and salaried workers.
"We should exempt not just minimum wage earners from withholding taxes but all workers whose income fall below the cost of living. If capitalists cannot give workers a wage commensurate to the cost of living then the state has no right to further reduce their meager take-home pay," Magtubo explained. (MSN/Sunnex)
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