Saturday, January 30, 2021

We Need Cost-of-Living-Adjusment Act (2020)


A person earning minimum wages today cannot survive on it year after year.

Following case study done for two years for person in Delhi proves this point:

Item Expense Month
Total 7955 Dec-2016
Total 8221 Jan-2017
Total 9006 Feb-2017
Total 9254 Mar-2017
Total 8284 Apr-2017
Total 8497 May-2017
Total 9912 Jun-2017
Total 9051 Jul-2017
Total 7453 Aug-2017
Total 8541 Sep-2017
Total 9880 Oct-2017
Total 11678 Nov-2017

Average Monthly Expenses (2017): 8978

Item Expense Month
Total 15128 Dec-2017
Total 10794 Jan-2018
Total 10989 Feb-2018
Total 10385 Mar-2018
Total 13462 Apr-2018
Total 10790 May-2018
Total 10525 Jun-2018
Total 10159 Jul-2018
Total 10340 Aug-2018
Total 13508 Sep-2018
Total 11655 Oct-2018
Total 13777 Nov-2018

Average Monthly Expenses (2018): 11793 (Yearly Change: 31%)
Average Monthly Expenses (2019): 15624 (Yearly Change: 33%)

Item Expense Month
Total 16049 Jan-2020
Total 21408 Feb-2020
Total 11997 Mar-2020
Total 11306 Apr-2020
Total 11749 May-2020
Total 11230 Jun-2020
Total 13034 Jul-2020
Total 24481 Aug-2020
Total 24944 Sep-2020
Total 17305 Oct-2020
Total 35500 Nov-2020
Total 25167 Dec-2020

Average Monthly Expenses (2020): 18681 (Yearly Change: 19.6%)
Additional note about year 2020:
- My monthly accomodation rental was about Rs 4000 (for single occupancy).
- In Feb-2020, some expenses involved sister's wedding.
- From Aug 2020 to Dec 2020, there incurred a medical expenses of roughly Rs 8000 per month.
- In Nov 2020, there was an expenditure of about Rs 13000 on a matrimonial site.
- Each year, there is a roughly expenditure of Rs 3000 on phone bill that involves the internet usage.

We see here that:
1. There is an increment of over 31 percent in 2018 in average monthly expenses
2. Average monthly expenses increased by 33 percent in 2019.
3. Average monthly expenses increased by 19.6 percent in 2020.
That is when a person is living hand to mouth and there is no improvement in quality of any aspect of life.
    
We not only need 'Minimum Wages' act but we also need COLA (Cost of Living Adjustment) act as well.

How much increment did you get in your last appraisal? If it is below 10 percent, don't even bother to mention it.

Related articles:
% Are Minimum Wages Sufficent?
% Article showing minimum wages set by Indian government:
% Who benefits from a higher minimum wages?

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