How much is your family earning per month? According to the survey conducted by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), a family of four needs Php120,000 a month to live a “simple and comfortable” life.
The reality is harsh, however, since NEDA Deputy Director-General for Policy and Planning Rosemarie Edillon admitted that only about 1% of the population actually earn this much every month – and majority of Filipino families can’t even earn that much in a year!
But before you bash NEDA for releasing the “wrong” figures, know that they got this through a survey of what Filipinos actually want to have in their lives. As part of their “AmBisyon Nation 2040” program, NEDA conducted a survey involving 10,000 Filipinos from ages 15 to 50 regarding what they wanted.
Based on the survey, Filipinos wanted the following – and NEDA made the corresponding calculations in expenses the family would incur per month:
- to be a business owner
- to have a job
- to own at least one car (Php5,000)
- to have enough money for day-to-day needs (Php40,000)
- to own a medium-sized home (Php30,000)
- to enable all children to be college-educated (Php10,000)
- to relax with family and friends (Php4,000)
- to be able to take occasional trips around the country (Php6,000)
- NEDA also added one more calculation, Php25,000 for the family to still be able to pay their taxes correctly.
That is how they were able to come up with the Php120,000 per month that the Filipino family of four should be earning to live that so-called “simple and comfortable” life – but this data came from a wish list and, in reality, much still needs to be done before even half of the population could attain this kind of lifestyle.
If we’ve got 120k/month, we’ll be living like kings and queens ?
I think the figure is ridiculous for a simple and comfortable life.
I’m from Singapore and with such a high cost of living in Singapore, many people are not even earning that amount.
Giving such “false” figures may have repercussions. People may not really think that is the amount to live a simple and comfortable life. And if they are not having that, they may start to feel they are below par.. thus may resort to expectations from the government to assist them to earn such income or worst still, resort to crimes…
My humble opinion only.