IN THE KNOW: Cost of living among Filipinos

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

A family of five needs an average income of at least P8,778 a month to meet basic food and nonfood needs, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The amount is 9.4 percent higher than the P8,025 poverty threshold recorded in the first half of 2013.

The data released on the PSA website on March 6 also showed that a family of five must earn at least P6,125 to meet basic food needs monthly, an amount 9.5 percent higher than the required P5,593 income in the same period in 2013.

The food threshold is the minimum income required to meet basic food needs and satisfy the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute.

Poverty incidence in the first semester of 2014 was 25.8 percent, up from 24.6 percent in the same period in 2013, according to the PSA.

The PSA defines poverty incidence as the proportion of the population below the poverty line.

As of 2014, the minimum wage rates in Metro Manila ranged from P429 to P466, while those in the provinces ranged from P205 to P349, data from the Department of Labor and Employment showed.–Inquirer Research

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority, dole.gov.ph