Why being poor is more expensive: When basic needs become luxury

Expense, per se, is not limited to money; it also includes time, dignity, and the toll it takes on spaces. It is a paradox: a person may be poor, yet poverty often proves more expensive than wealth.

According to statistics released by Ibon Foundation as of May 2025, there remains a significant gap between the current minimum wage and the estimated livable wage required to support an average Filipino household.

With a minimum wage of around P600 a day, a family can purchase several packs of instant noodles, canned goods, biscuits, and other processed foods. That same amount must also cover essentials like electricity and water bills, transportation, school supplies, and more. For families living paycheck to paycheck, choosing unhealthy food becomes a more practical option than buying expensive fish, meat, or fresh produce.

We cannot simply tell people to “eat healthy,” nor judge them for consuming processed meals, because often, we don’t know the full story behind their choices. Documentaries show children who eat nothing but instant noodles every day. Their priority is survival, even if it means risking long-term health consequences.

Students who grow up on poor nutrition, or those who come to school with an empty stomach, frequently get sick, lack energy, struggle to learn, or are frequently absent. Over time, this can lead to dropouts or poor academic performance. Even graduates may be forced into jobs they don’t enjoy, because they need to earn, causing burnout, stress, and misaligned life paths. Some of these children may later start their own families while still unemployed or underemployed, continuing the cycle of poverty. This is sometimes worsened by a lack of access to family planning or by the cultural belief that children will one day lift their families out of poverty. And so, the cycle repeats—unintentionally, but systematically.

Over the years of merely “surviving,” many families face serious health consequences. Some skip annual check-ups because preventive care has become a privilege rather than a necessity. Many cannot afford it. As a result, many rely on traditional remedies or self-medication, while others simply avoid the hospital altogether.

A single visit to a doctor now costs between P500 and P1,000, depending on the specialist, excluding transportation , meals, and medication. For families with limited resources, that P500 is often reallocated to “more urgent needs” like food to survive another day. In that struggle, the ordinary Filipino is left with little to no dignity in the name of survival.

It feels as though citizens are forced to beg for the help that is rightfully theirs when they are the ones who put these officials in power in the first place. Public service should not require pleading. My hope remains for a future where Filipinos no longer have to beg for the bare minimum, but instead live under a government that truly serves its people with compassion and integrity.