NEDA: Pinoy household needs P120K a mo. for a 'simple, comfortable' life

A typical Filipino household of four needs a monthly income of P100,000 to live a "simple and comfortable" life, the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) revealed on Tuesday.

Under the current conditions, a simple and comfortable life would entail having a gross monthly income of P120,000 per family per month, according to NEDA data.

The amount is premised on having a comprehensive tax reform program in place.

According to NEDA’s “Ambisyon Natin 2040 Report," 79.2 percent of Filipinos want to have a simple and comfortable life – described as holding a stable job and owning of a car and a house.

The report is a result of public consultations, a national survey, and technical studies that were conducted to produce evidence-based inquiries as to what and how the goals can be achieved as a nation in the next 25 years.

The vision will serve as an anchor to the development planning across four administrations, beginning with that of President-elect Rodrigo Duterte.

A "simple" and "comfortable" life described by the respondents is actually not a modest life, but points to the lifestyle of a middle-class family with middle-class income, outgoing Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Emmanuel Esguerra said.

"These are not modest aspirations... In fact these are middle class aspirations," he told reporters during the joint forum organized by NEDA and the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines.

Strong income growth

To attain such aspiration, a strong income growth would have to be sustained in run up to 2040, NEDA Deputy Director Rosemarie G. Edillon said.

"If we grow like we did in the past, we will achieve this. But if not... majority of the Filipinos will not be able to achieve this," she said.

"We need a strong income growth and more inequality-reducing strategies," she emphasized.

A P120,000 monthly income would also translate to an $11,000 per capita income that would address the poverty rate.

Despite such "ambitious" target, Edillon said it may be achieved even before 2040 if issues are addressed along the way.

"By 2030... mayabang tayong magsasabi na we have left no one behind, we have left no Filipino behind," she said.

A zero-percent poverty rate could be achieved by then, but that this  one of the expectations in 2040, she added. – VDS, GMA News