Poverty is the state of not being able to afford a person’s basic needs. We have been facing this problem for a long time and it seems as if there hasn’t been any improvement. Even though people work hard to earn the money they need, the problem now lies within the salary of the employees.

Presently, in Region IV-A, the minimum wage ranges from P293.00-P379.00. When computed, the monthly salary ranges only from P8790.00-P11370.00. Imagine if these employees are the only people working for their families. Even if he/she lives alone, there are also bills to pay and personal necessities to attend to. This amount is just not enough. (DOLE, 2018)

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia on Friday said "it will be good" for an average Filipino family of 5 to have two working members taking home P21,000 a month each or a total of P42,000, to live above the poverty line. Two family members would need to each earn at least P21,000 per month under the estimated figure to have a rather comfortable lifestyle, noted Ernesto Pernia, the country’s socioeconomic planning secretary. But this cannot be the case for most families in the Philippines. A well-earning job is hard to find so people settle for jobs that cannot sustain them well, all for the sake of having a salary. (Fenol J.,2018)

“The wage rates should now be uniform because the poverty in Luzon is the same poverty felt by workers in the Visayas and Mindanao. The prices of commodities are the same in every region, so the salary should also be uniform,” Tanjusay said. “Let us not wait for the perfect storm to happen. The government must now mitigate the worsening plight of workers and their families by providing safety nets while employers, on one hand, must immediately provide a substantial wage increase and save workers from falling into deeper destitution,” he added. (Depasul W., 2018)

More info.:
https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/04/04/14/why-minimum-wage-worsens-poverty-ph​

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/08/08/1840702/prices-rise-57-fastest-5-years​

http://manilastandard.net/news/national/270504/government-urged-to-raise-minimum-wage.html​

https://www.rappler.com/nation/203537-labor-department-study-minimum-wage-increase-cash-subsidy​

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/06/10/regional-board-to-decide-on-minimum-wage-issue/​

https://www.philstar.com/business/2018/09/05/1848650/philippine-growth-wages-employment-and-poverty-reduction