Standard of living in the Philippines

[bender]

I just read an article on MSN Money titled "How long does it take to earn a Big Mac" wherein a measure of the purchasing power of people residing in certain cities is obtained by comparing their wages and the prices of a benchmark item that is universal. Since Mcdonald's has branches throughout the world and a Big Mac has very little variation across countries, it is a good benchmark. The key thought in the article is that "Wages only become meaningful in relation to prices -- that is, what can be bought with the money earned."

Key findings that relates to us:
We have one of the lowest purchasing power as somebody with a job has to work 81 minutes to be able to afford a Big Mac compared to developed cities like Tokyo (10 minutes), Los Angeles (11 minutes), New York (13 minutes), Hong Kong (17 minutes) with the worldwide average being 35 minutes.

The UBS survey, conducted every three years, rated Oslo as the most expensive city on the basis of the cost of a basket of 122 goods and services, excluding rent. It was followed by London; Copenhagen, Denmark; Zurich, Switzerland; Tokyo; Geneva; New York; Dublin, Ireland; Stockholm, Sweden; and Helsinki, Finland.
The least expensive cities were Manila, Philippines; Delhi; Buenos Aires; Bombay and Kuala Lumpur.

[uls]

here's an article from Slate. The Rising Cost of Living Well

http://www.slate.com/id/2147256/?GT1=8483


Pero dito sa Pinas dami tao lagi sa mga Starbucks.

[guido]

nung na interview si mahathir dito last year, sabi nya di daw applicable dito yung mcdonald's index, jolibee index daw dapat.

[mazdamazda]

The least expensive cities were Manila, Philippines; Delhi; Buenos Aires; Bombay and Kuala Lumpur.

As long as you kept non-essential spending to a minimum and don't have a dozen children you'll stay afloat here.

[uls]

How about the Instant Noodle Index.

that's the only thing people can afford nowadays...

[Jun aka Pekto]

Whenever I was visiting the Philippines, I stayed as far away as possible from fast food. I use the "hipon index" which is how much shrimp/prawns can I buy from the local palengke (near my wife's place at Tacloban, Leyte) or even direct from the fishing boat (I love the province, even though electric power sucks). Hand in hand with the hipon index is the beer index. I like it.

[_Qwerty_]

matagal na yang BIG MAC index..

usually they take the daily minimum wage and the price of big mac.. tapos inaalam kung ilan big mac mabibili sa minimum wage..

dito sa atin.. for Php350.00 at 80.00 na ba big mac.. so that's 4.37 big mac lang.. for a minimum wage..

sa US.. magkano ba minimum wage?? say 8 dollars per hour.. so that's 48 dollars per day.. a big mac is say 2 dollars.. so a day's minimum wage there can buy 24 big macs.. ganyan kalaki diprensya dito sa atin at sa US.. dito sa atin 4 lang sa kanila 24 na big mac..

[uls]

kaya dami obese sa States... mura ang pagkain

[BlueBimmer]

yeah kaya dami fat jokes si jay leno hehe

[Jun aka Pekto]

80.00 na ba big mac.. so that's 4.37 big mac lang.. for a minimum wage..

Gee. Nowadays, how much is a bowl of say, arroz caldo or my favorite, chicken/pork mami compared to a Big Mac?

[BlueBimmer]

^half price..less than even

[mrpink]

mas mura beer dito sa pinas ..

[_Qwerty_]

simply put.. to at least match the standard of living sa US.. dapat ang kinikita mo or nang family mo dito sa pinas eh.. 80 x 24 = Php1,920.00 or about Php50,000.00 a month salary.. comparable pa lang yan sa minimum wage earner sa US..

even yang beer index.. malaki na rin pinagbago.. dati nung bata ako.. sabi nung mga uncle ko.. sa daily wage nila.. nakakabili nang isang case na beer at may kasama pang pulutan.. ngayon.. ang beer eh Php18.00 na isa.. so sa 350.00 na sahod.. eh 19 bottles na lang yan..

[Radical!]

A few years back, on a trip to England, the pinoy I am who always brings out a calculator to compute the exchange rate , was surprised to learn that a Big mac meal costs PHP 535!

[creepy]

matagal na yang BIG MAC index..

usually they take the daily minimum wage and the price of big mac.. tapos inaalam kung ilan big mac mabibili sa minimum wage..

dito sa atin.. for Php350.00 at 80.00 na ba big mac.. so that's 4.37 big mac lang.. for a minimum wage..

sa US.. magkano ba minimum wage?? say 8 dollars per hour.. so that's 48 dollars per day.. a big mac is say 2 dollars.. so a day's minimum wage there can buy 24 big macs.. ganyan kalaki diprensya dito sa atin at sa US.. dito sa atin 4 lang sa kanila 24 na big mac..

I think a Big Mac is around US$3.

[CVT]

Reason why inspite of the sensationalized kidnappings, foreigners would still want to live here...

[niky]

I believe more in the cup noodle index myself.

So we're poor? What's new?

[wrxsti]

matagal na yang BIG MAC index..

usually they take the daily minimum wage and the price of big mac.. tapos inaalam kung ilan big mac mabibili sa minimum wage..

dito sa atin.. for Php350.00 at 80.00 na ba big mac.. so that's 4.37 big mac lang.. for a minimum wage..

sa US.. magkano ba minimum wage?? say 8 dollars per hour.. so that's 48 dollars per day.. a big mac is say 2 dollars.. so a day's minimum wage there can buy 24 big macs.. ganyan kalaki diprensya dito sa atin at sa US.. dito sa atin 4 lang sa kanila 24 na big mac..

ummm I think minimum wage here in the US is not 8 dollars an hour more like 4.50 +/- an hour, at least where I'm at .

so 4.5 x 8 = 36, big mac more like 2.50 (incl tax) so 36/2.5 = 14.4 Big Macs

[uls]

We have Boy Bawang. Piso lang.

We have Ding Dong and Happy peanuts. Tig pipiso.

P5 or P6 for Coke Sakto...

I can have merienda for P10.

There's nothing like living in the Phils..

[bender]

How about the Instant Noodle Index.

that's the only thing people can afford nowadays...

That's what most local research agencies use as their index for food. The problem in the Philippines is the wide disparity in incomes among the social classes and in the population of people belonging to each social class.