The recent approval of a wage hike in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) might feel like an early Christmas gift to private and household workers.
Under Wage Order CAR-23, the minimum wage for private sector workers will rise to P470 daily, while household workers will see their monthly pay increase to P6,000. But is this enough to bring financial relief to workers struggling to make ends meet?
Unfortunately, the answer is a resounding no.
Even with the new minimum wage, a worker earning P470 a day will only make about P12,000 monthly, assuming a 25-day work period. For household workers (who usually work round-the-clock), the updated P6,000 monthly wage provides even less.
The Philippine Statistics Authority estimates that a family of five needs around P14,000 a month to meet basic needs—a threshold that hasn’t been updated to account for rapid inflation in recent years. For workers supporting families, the new minimum wage still leaves them below the poverty line.
For single workers, the numbers may seem manageable at first glance. But the rising cost of transportation, housing, and food quickly erases any perceived gains. A single meal at a fast-food restaurant can cost around P150, meaning just three meals would already consume P450—a day’s wage gone in food alone.
What about families with children and elderly folk? How far can a household with only a single provider stretch its budget to be able to afford decent meals, healthcare, and schooling? How about rent? Utilities, taxes, SSS contributions? Debts?
Perhaps decision-makers in government need to experience living on meager earnings for 2-3 months at least to get an authentic feel for the minimum wage they so carefully calculated and analyzed.
Prices of basic commodities like rice, eggs, and cooking oil have skyrocketed in recent years, leaving families with less purchasing power despite wage increases. A sack of rice, a staple for Filipino households, now costs upwards of P2,500—nearly half a month’s wage for a household worker. Utilities like electricity and water, along with fuel prices, have also seen consistent increases.
The minimum wage is supposed to provide workers with a standard of living that meets their basic needs, but it has long failed to keep pace with economic realities. It’s a classic case of giving workers a flimsy band-aid solution when systemic reform is what’s needed.
Adding insult to injury is the persistent issue of corruption in government, which bleeds billions from public coffers annually. These are funds that could have been used to subsidize basic goods, provide affordable housing, or invest in public transport systems to ease the burden on low-income workers.
Consider the billions lost to ghost projects, overpriced supplies, and other forms of graft. Each peso siphoned off by corrupt officials translates to lost opportunities for wage earners who rely on government support for education, healthcare, and livelihood programs.
This corruption creates a vicious cycle. Workers pay taxes, expecting better public services, only to find that these funds are misused, leaving them with even fewer resources to fall back on.
Raising the minimum wage is a step in the right direction, but it’s far from being the solution. The government must address systemic issues to create an environment where workers can thrive and truly live.
Until wages reflect reality, and until corruption is eradicated, workers will remain burdened by a system that benefits only the powerful.
