What does it mean to be “middle class” in the Philippines? In the post-pandemic world, does it matter?
The answer to the latter is still a yes because, as defined by Brookings Institution, a non-profit organization concerned with helping “improve policy and governance” at various levels: “The key ingredients of a middle-class lifestyle…are to: own a home, be able to save for retirement, provide a college education for their children, have health security (insurance), a car for each adult, and a family vacation at least once a year.”
Does this sound familiar?
It’s a dream held by many Filipino families, here or elsewhere, and is the reason governments work to alleviate poverty and uplift the standards of living in their countries.
The pandemic surely changed certain aspects of our lives, chief among which is the mindset toward what holds real value.
These days, people deem experiences as more important than material possessions; and we regard time as more of a treasure than the size of one’s wallet.
Of course, good income will always be a goal for all. We eat to survive, we live to live.
Yet the waste and excess of past generations had led to disease and food shortages. Sustainability, then, is the byword of the times, and the younger generations are looking less at what the future holds and more at what the present moment yields.
They are the ones who will inherit the earth, as we say, and the ones who will fuel economies driven by digitalization.
In our country, the digital sector has contributed so significantly to the economy that Access Partnership, in a study commissioned by Google, reported: “In 2020, the internet economy in the Philippines was estimated to be worth US$7.5 billion and is expected to grow by 30 percent annually to reach US$28 billion by 2025. To realize this digital potential, the Philippine government has crafted specific roadmaps to guide policymaking.
“For instance, the ‘E-Commerce Philippine 2022 Roadmap’ is a strategic framework that presents the country’s strategic plans, policies, and other support measures to harness the benefits of e-commerce. However, the country faces several barriers to fully effecting digital transformation, such as low digital adoption among micro, small and medium-sized enterprises or MSMEs, a lack of awareness of existing programs and policies to facilitate digital adoption, gaps in access to digital tools, and a digital skills gap in the workforce.”
Access’ study finds that “if leveraged fully, digital transformation can unlock P5 trillion (US$101.3 billion) worth of annual economic value in the Philippines by 2030.”
Clearly, our world is changing rapidly.
What’s good about the digitalization direction mapped out by the Marcos administration is that it supports growth and competitiveness.
This could be why BMI, a Fitch Solutions company, put the Philippines alongside other emerging economies like Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Vietnam “as countries that would break into the world’s 20 largest economies by 2050.”
S&P Global says the Philippine economy is projected to be the fourth largest in Asia and the 19th largest in the world by 2050. By 2035, the Philippine economy is predicted to be the 22nd largest in the world.
Projections notwithstanding, where we are at this point deserve our full attention.
The World Bank recently said we remain a lower-middle economy, but for some sectors, that is still better than being a third-world economy.
Also, we are “on track toward (the) goal to become an upper middle-income country,” as ADB Philippines Country Director Kelly Bird said.
It’s worth looking ahead to. Everyone wants to have a better life, after all.