RAISE REGIONAL WAGES. The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) wants to increase the regional wage rate to increase the quality of life of Filipino families. In a message to reporters Wednesday (Nov. 24, 2021), POPCOM Chief Dr. Antonio Perez III said raising the regional wage will help Filipino families live a more decent lifestyle. (Photo courtesy of POPCOM)
MANILA – The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) on Wednesday cited the need to review regional wage policies to help Filipinos earn "living wages" and not just minimum pays.
POPCOM Chief Juan Antonio Perez III told reporters that the progressive regions provide higher salaries and more work opportunities than most regions where jobs are scarce and wages are smaller.
“That is why workers migrate to areas such as Calabarzon, National Capital Region (NCR), and Central Luzon. Thus, we call on our regional wage boards to study and help improve this situation that will positively impact the condition of our families,” he added.
Perez said this will bring genuine development for Filipino families and will contribute to the economic development of the country as a whole.
“Now is the time to discuss not just family planning, but also other goals that can help Filipinos, and one of those is their ‘living wage. That is our message for this year’s POPDEV Week,” he said.
The POPCOM-United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)-University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) study showed that as regional minimum wages increase, the support ratio (SR) for Filipino families improves, which enables two workers per family to be able to provide for two children, with some savings set aside.
POPCOM said the situation worsens outside NCR and Calabarzon.
Meanwhile, University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) Assistant Professor Michael Dominic del Mundo, citing Perez, relayed there is a “significant positive correlation” between a region’s minimum wage and its SR, and that as the minimum wage rises, the SR also goes up, and vice versa.
Demographic dividend
In a study commissioned by POPCOM, it was revealed that the incomes families need to survive and thrive varies in the different regions.
For the Philippines to achieve its demographic dividend by 2025, the agency revealed that at least 1 million more women need to join the country’s family planning program. It said the target of 2.1 fertility or lower has already been achieved in Calabarzon and the National Capital Region (NCR).
However, the report also showed that most regions still have almost three-child families, with the Bangsamoro Region at four.
In the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), couples need to have four jobs at current wage rates to support four-child families.
In other regions such as Zamboanga Peninsula, Bicol, Western Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Mimaropa, Soccsksargen, and Davao, families with three children need three jobs given their respective minimum wages in order to make ends meet. (PNA)
