Farmworkers nationwide received an average daily wage of P331.10 in 2019 and male laborers continued to outperform their female counterparts in terms of salary, according to data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Data from the PSA showed that the average nominal wage rate of agricultural workers in 2019 was equivalent to two whole dressed chicken sold at P140 to P150 each.
On the average, the PSA also said male farmworkers were paid P335 per day, higher than the average wage rate of female farmworkers at P304.60 per day.
“Wages paid in cash or in kind are converted into daily wage rate equivalents using the reported mandays and total wages paid to farmworkers,” PSA said.
Data showed that the daily wage rate of farmworkers was the highest in Calabarzon at an average of P399.08. It was the lowest in Central Visayas at P276.43 per day.
PSA said female farmers in Calabarzon received the biggest payment at P392.43 per day while those in Central Visayas got the lowest at P251.55 per day.
For the male farmworkers, Mimaropa recorded the highest pay at P412.19 per day while the lowest was recorded in Northern Mindanao at P281.09 per day.
In terms of regional wage difference between male and female farm workers, the widest was in Mimaropa at P82.41 per day. The average daily wage of female farm workers was at P329.78.
The smallest wage difference between male and female farm workers was recorded in Caraga Region at P1.65 per day, according to the PSA.
“Palay farm laborers were paid the highest nominal wage rate at an average of P351.39 per day. The daily wage rates of male and female farm laborers corresponded to P355.67 and P328.84, with wage differential of P26.83 per day,” PSA said.
Data also showed that regional daily wage rates ranged from P270.88 in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) to P422.27 in Calabarzon. The daily wage rates of both the males and females were highest in Calabarzon at P423.69 and P410.20, respectively.
In BARMM, males were paid the least at P270.46 per day. Females got the lowest payment in Central Visayas at P254.45 per day.
The biggest wage differential was noted in Mimaropa at P115.47 where male farm workers were paid an average of P422.93 per day while their female counterparts received P307.46 per day.
The lowest nominal wage rate in 2019 was received by corn farmworkers at an average of P288.04 per day. Male farm laborers were paid P294.32 per day, or P27.51 more than what was received by the female farm laborers at P266.81 per day.
PSA data showed that as of 2018, farmers and fishermen were among the poorest Filipinos nationwide with average poverty rates of 31.6 percent and 26.2 percent, respectively.
However, poverty rate among these workers was already lower in 2018 compared to the 2015 data. It was at 40.8 percent among farmers and 36.9 percent among fishermen.