The Marcos Jr administration’s claim that “better-quality jobs, higher incomes” are among its priorities is questionable, considering many of the jobs being created are informal and low paying. The government has been posturing that it acknowledges the need to improve the quality of work and incomes but has not implemented effective measures that actually create decent and sustainable jobs.
Official labor force figures report that employment grew by a huge 2.2 million to 49.9 million in September 2024 from 47.7 million in the same month last year, while unemployment declined by 370,000 to 1.9 million from 2.3 million. But the number of underemployed grew significantly by 831,000 to 5.9 million from 5.1 million.
Employment is still plagued by widespread informality. This means many employed Filipinos are forced to put up with insecure, temporary or irregular jobs with low earnings just to support themselves and their families.
One indication of this is the rise in the number of underemployed, most of which can be attributed to the 856,000-increase in the number of invisibly underemployed or those that are full-time workers but seek additional work or more income. This means Filipinos are not making enough to meet even their basic needs.
The number of part-time workers also grew by 789,000 to 15.7 million from 14.9 million. Meanwhile, full-time workers or those that worked 40 hours and over rose by a big 1.4 million, but they also could be among those whose incomes are insufficient and want more work.
Additionally, there have been increases in the class of workers that would be considered informal, having to rely on their own resourcefulness amid the lack of formal work opportunities. There was a huge 1.3-million increase in the number of self-employed persons to 13.7 million in September 2024 from 12.4 million in September 2023. Even the number of unpaid family workers increased by 138,000 to 3.3 million.
IBON estimates that 42% or 20.7 million of the total employed are openly in informal work as of September 2024, growing by 1.7 million from the 19 million in September last year. This is comprised of the self-employed, domestic workers (2.6 million), and those in own family-operated farm or business including unpaid family workers (4.5 million). If some 15 million workers in unregulated private establishments are included, the number of informal workers could even be as much as 35 million.
New but low-quality jobs
Many of the jobs created seem to be in sectors that are notorious for being insecure, temporary and low paying. For instance, there was a 559,000 increase in Other Service Activities, most of which was due to additional jobs in domestic services such as maids, drivers, cooks, houseboys and gardeners, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) head Dennis Mapa. In wholesale and retail trade, most of the 486,000-increase is attributed to retail sales employment such as in groceries, supermarkets, sari-sari and convenience stores, which could mean temporary or seasonal hires due to the impending holiday season.
Meanwhile, the productive sectors that have the potential to create decent work if strengthened are experiencing declines in employment or growth in irregular work. Jobs in agriculture and forestry contracted by 210,000 to 8.7 million, and in fishing by 136,000 to 1.2 million. Manufacturing jobs increased by 200,000 to 3.8 million, but most of these are part-time (178,000).
With the prevalence of informal work, the incomes of many Filipinos are not enough to meet their basic needs. IBON estimates show that across all regions, the average minimum wage of Php454 is only 37.3% of the Php1,215 average family living wage (FLW) for a family of five. Even the Php645 National Capital Region (NCR) minimum wage – the highest in the country – is only 54% of the Php1,205 NCR FLW. It is much worse in BARMM where the Php361 minimum wage is a mere 18% of the Php2,047 FLW in the region.
It is little wonder then that the welfare of millions of families are worsening as they scrape by on what little they earn and even fall into poverty. IBON estimates based on Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) data show that the number of households without savings grew by 1.2 million from the previous year to 19.2 million, as of third quarter of 2024. Self-rated poor families meanwhile increased from 16 million or 58% of Filipino families in June 2024 to 16.3 million or 59% in September 2024, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) poverty survey.
Meaningful measures overdue
The Marcos Jr administration claims to admit that more needs to be done to improve the quality of work and increase incomes. But it stubbornly sticks to discredited pro-local and foreign big-business market-driven measures to address these.
The nation needs leaders that genuinely care about the worsening welfare of Filipino citizens and are willing to push radical and meaningful measures that will really create better-quality jobs and higher incomes. This can begin with substantial wage hikes as well as subsidies for small businesses and producers. In the long term, more resources can be funneled into developing domestic agriculture and Filipino industries, which can in turn boost sustainable job generation.
