Abstract:
When the pandemic began its undesirable effects, the world began to respond to the
changes it has brought. Social distancing, lockdowns, quarantines, businesses temporarily or
permanently closing down are just some of the sudden effects that everyone had to deal with last
2020. After more than two years battling the effects of the pandemic, many have been plagued
by a new type of problem, the rising inflation rate. Whenever inflation rate rises, prices of
different types of goods and services are also increasing. It can be observed that the prices of
fuel, onions, sugar, food from restaurants, and other goods and services have been increasing
since the start of the pandemic. What contributed to this rising inflation rate are the international
conflicts and global supply chain shortage. There are also other factors contributing to this
increase of prices. The researcher wanted to know the impact of inflation among low-wage
earners. For the reason that the researcher lives near the industrial parks in Brgy. Canlubang,
Calamba City, Laguna, the researcher interviewed twelve industrial workers who work inside
these industrial estates of Canlubang, as well as residing inside the barangay. The researcher
asked the participants about their income sufficiency and how it is affected by the rising inflation
rate. The researcher found out that the participants earn from Php14,000 up to Php32,000 every
month. Half of the participants said that their current income is insufficient for them while five of
them said otherwise. One participant mentioned that sometimes his income is either sufficient or
insufficient for him. The participants were impacted by the rising prices by budgeting their
expenses as well as setting aside their non-essential activities. They also prioritize and largely
allocate for their food expenses and other needs, rent and utilities, children’s needs, and others.
They also plan ahead for their expenses and even try to lessen their food expenses by strategizing
on how they could spend less. The participants also call for an income increase, lower prices of
essential items, better employee benefits, and as well as removing contractualization.
