BESIDES rendering millions of Pinoys jobless, the country’s underemployment woes worsened due to the pandemic, highlighting the need to reconsider wage rates and standards of living, according to economists from the De La Salle University (DLSU) School of Economics.
In a Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) forum on Thursday, DLSU Associate Professor Jason Alinsunurin said this shows that the desire for longer working hours reflected workers’ low pay. He said this meant that the pay received by “visibly underemployed is severely below the minimum wage.”
Alinsunurin said even for those already working more than 40 hours a week, the average daily pay may still be below the minimum wage. This means the actual wages in the Philippines are not sufficient.
“Average daily wages for the visibly underemployed [are] severely below the minimum wage and the cost of living; wages are practically stagnant for those who work more than 45 hours (a week),” his presentation showed.
“If we’re going to account for inflation and the actual increase in the cost of living during this period, you can actually see that the actual wages received by workers is becoming less and less across these periods of the survey,” he also said.
Based on the study Alinsunurin conducted with other DLSU economists Lawrence Dacuycuy and Mariel Monica Sauler, the desire for more work grew in the pandemic.
The study also found a decrease in the number of working hours, which also increased the demand for working hours.
Seniors forced to work
This, Alinsunurin said, was highlighted by the fact that those aged between 50 and 55 years old, as well as 55 to 60 years old are the ones asking for more hours of work, even if they are near or at the age of retirement.
“(Given that) they’re the proportion of those workers asking for more hours of work, (this) is practically the same for those who are just starting their working careers at 30 to 35 (years old),” Alinsunurin said.
Last year, economists told BusinessMirror that economic difficulties caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have forced seniors and undergraduate students to look for work.
Data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) improved to 65 percent in March 2021.
However, National Statistician Claire Dennis S. Mapa said the uptick in LFPR was mainly due to Filipinos 15 to 24 year olds and those 65 and over who joined and rejoined the labor force.
Based on data obtained by the BusinessMirror, the LFPR of Filipinos aged 15 to 24 years old and those over 65 years old has been rising since January 2021.
Data showed that for those aged 15 to 24 years old, LFPR increased to 40.1 percent in March 2021 from 37.7 percent in February and 34.7 percent in January this year.