Filipino's Make How Much ?!?

It's taken me two years to come to full terms with this. There is still that "hard to believe" film that covers all of these sentiments when I try to consider them. For about six years I have been touting that the economy of the Philippines was about a 3 to 1 ratio. I had based that on how much things cost; that is to say an average meal at a commercial restaurant might cost about one third of the price in the U.S. and the cost of an equally comparable apartment or home in the Philippines would be about one third of what it would be in the U.S. ... But then I didn't have a full grasp of is what people make.

"You are rich" I would hear from filipinos that would get in longer than average conversations with me. And although I wouldn't share my wage with them I would tell them that I am not rich because I knew that I was only bringing in about P2,500 to P3,000 pesos a month. But I was ok with what I considered this very very low wage for what I was doing because I considered it a starting for the web design and web hosting work that I'm just beginning.

But then I found out that P6,000 to P7,000 is a more common monthly salary than I had once realized. I 'though' the wage was twice that much! I mean; I knew that pedi-cab drivers, tricycle drivers and street vendors were bringing in two to four thousand pesos a month on average, but I didn't realize that gas station attendants were bringing in about the same. And college graduates are often bringing in just one or two thousand more. Even people working for many small to mid-size corporations. It's not until you start working for large corporations that you begin to get into the P15k to P20k starting salary that I thought was average already.

According to this government site ,which was offline when I last checked,the legal minimum wage is about P255 pesos per day (you can see a cache of the site here). But to be fair I think that the minimum wage has gone up which is reflected as P404 per day for nonagricultural workers according to this wikipedia article. But still that's only $9.11 per hour (or $200US per month) 'before' taxes are taken out.

So now I understand more about the way things are around me and the way people think around me. Faith is a much more important part of my life than most people so I don't worry about the things that other people worry about, and I don't want the things that most people want ... But I do understand. I'm not so far removed that I don't 'get' why people are worried, concerned, and thinking that more money is going to solve all of their problems. People that make this little aren't starving. But they also aren't able to buy those luxury items like a latte from Star Bucks or brand new outfit every month.

So now I know a closer truth about the wage, the economy, and what people are able to "afford". Gas to cook with cost about P780 per month for a family of four. Eating out at a turo-turo store costs about P35 per person, per meal. Most Filipinos live four to six people inside a small two bedroom apartment that would be consider very substandard in the U.S. This type of apartment in the Philippines usually costs 5K to 7K per month depending on the area. Sometime less for a more substandard apartment if their are not at least two people in the home that are working ... Now I understand. That for a family with a college graduate or two, the standard of life is 'not' three to one.