Ateneo Policy Center publishes new policy note on Rationale and Evidence on the Minimum Wage

On March 2024, the Ateneo School of Government (ASOG) and the Ateneo Policy Center, represented by Senior Economist and former ASOG Dean Ronald U. Mendoza and Research Associate Gaby Mendoza, provided a technical statement during the House Committee on Labor and Employment’s meeting on the proposed legislated daily wage increase in the Philippines.

Given debates on what is “fair” and “decent” for the minimum wage in the Philippines, researchers from the Ateneo Policy Center estimated the cost of the cheapest plate possible recommended by the Pinggang Pinoy program and found that the present government-mandated minimum wage rate is not enough to afford the government’s own nutritional meal recommendations. Aside from an issue of policy coherence, the failure of the policy on minimum wages to catch up with the rising cost of living warrants further investigation given recent evidence that there is also food insecurity and stunting among the majority of the Filipino population.

Read the policy note accompanying the technical statement through: bit.ly/APC_MinimumWagePH