How much is enough?

ow do we help employers who want to comply with the ethical standard set by the Social Doctrine of the Church, that a living wage must enable the worker and his family to attain a minimum level of comfort and decency with the wage that he or she is paid.

- HUMAN SIDE OF ECONOMICS BERNARDO M. VILLEGAS

First, let us calculate what the actual monthly income of a worker who is paid the legal or statutory minimum wage is. We can use the formula: monthly income = daily wage x workdays per month or P645 x 22 standard days = P14,190 per month.

Let us compare this to what a “just” minimum wage should be considering minimum consumption requirements for minimum comfort and human dignity for the worker and his family.

Without using his case as the standard for all workers, just to illustrate, the following were the estimated monthly costs for the various items in the consumer basket reported by an average worker: Food (P5,000); Rent and Utilities (P7,000); Transportation (P1500); Healthcare (P1,000); Education (P1,000); Clothing/ hygiene (P1,000), Emergency savings (P1000) totaling monthly expenses of P17,500. In this case the legal wage is too low.

It would be useful to cite some studies that have been made in calculating what a family with four members (the present statistical average according to the Philippine Statistics Authority or PSA) would need to live with minimum comfort and human dignity. According to a PSA study (2023), a family of five (the average among the poorest of the poor) would need at least P13,873 per month to be at the poverty threshold (not sufficient for minimum comfort and dignity). About 16% of total households in the Philippines fall below this poverty line. It is clear that this amount does not comply with the doctrine of Rerum Novarum and other papal encyclicals. According to the Social Weather Station (2025), families surveyed say that they need P12,000 per month (for the whole country) while those who reside in Metro Manila estimate it at P20,000, just to feel that they are not poor. These official figures may be useful as possible guides for employers and the Government to consider but they clearly understate what families feel is realistic.