Wage hike needed as Filipino families’ incomes erode Jan. – July due to inflation
Wage hike needed as Filipino families’ incomes erode Jan. – July due to inflation
A substantial increase in the minimum wage is necessary and doable as the country’s poorest households are losing income due to escalating inflation, said research group IBON, contrary to the recent claims of an employers’ group. IBON estimates that income losses of the poorest 60 million Filipinos ranged from Php1,276 to as much as Php3,489 since January 2018.
Without a substantial wage hike, accelerating inflation will continue to erode the incomes of the poorest Filipino families and may drive them into further hunger and poverty, said the group. Inflation spiked from 2.9% in December 2017 to 5.7% in July 2018. This is over four times more than the 1.3% June inflation on the outset of the Duterte administration.
IBON estimates that from January to July this year, households in the poorest first decile with Php7,724 monthly income have cumulatively lost Php1,276 due to inflation; those in the second decile (Php10,711 monthly income) have lost Php1,769; and those in the third decile (Php12,835 monthly income) have lost Php2,120. Households in the fourth decile (Php15,132 monthly income) have lost Php2,500; those in the fifth decile (Php17,309 monthly income) lost Php2,859; and those in the sixth decile (Php21,119) lost Php3,489.
The erosion of monthly household incomes was calculated using Department of Finance (DOF) computations of the monthly household incomes of the first to sixth income deciles in the country, assuming these were constant during the first semester, and deflating them monthly by the prevailing inflation rate.
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