MANILA, Philippines — Young adults in Manila have a harder time paying for food, transportation, rent, entertainment and taxes than their counterparts in Paris or Rome, a recent study reveals.
The Youthful Cities Affordability Index 2014 conducted by Canada-based survey firm Decode ranked the Philippine capital at the bottom five of the 25 cities polled in terms of the capacity of the youth to purchase commodities based on minimum wages.
Young people living Manila, ranked 21st with a score of 612.84 out of 1000, bested only Shanghai (China), Mexico City (Mexico), Nairobi (Kenya) and Kinshasa (Congo) in purchasing power.
Affordability of life in Manila for a young, minimum wage earner
Paris, Toronto, Los Angeles, Chicago and Berlin, respectively, top the list as the most affordable cities to live and work in for young people.
Manila, however, climbed two places in minimum wage rank with the average pay of US $1.12 per hour. Parisians again top the list, earning a whopping minimum of $12.84 per hour.
Young earners in Manila need to work for four hours to afford a movie ticket, while those in Rome and Berlin only need to work for a fraction of an hour to earn enough to watch a film.
The study also shows that a Manila worker in his 20s earning minimum will only be able to rent a furnished apartment for a month if he works for 879 hours, or 100 days.
Those in Berlin, in comparison, only have to work for 115 hours or 14 days to afford a decent, fully furnished flat.
"Our collective challenge is to make cities more affordable for youth," the authors of the study said.
They also appealed to governments and businesses to give more options for young people to have a higher quality of life.
"You rely on the brains and brawn of young people ... We dare you to guarantee that you will be a place young people can afford to live today and tomorrow," the researchers said.