Law, morality, and catholic social teaching on family living wage: Analyzing the adequacy and morality of the minimum wage in the Philippines

Abstract

This article illustrates that what is legal may not necessarily be moral for the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) in the Philippines. Using sociological and theological perspectives and secondary data to compare the minimum wage and the family living wage of non-agricultural workers in Metro Manila as an illustration, it clarifies the basic difference between the government’s legal wage and the Roman Catholic Church’s (RCC) moral wage It compares the legal wage as mandated by the Wage Rationalization Act of 1989 and related statutes and the RCC’s social doctrines on just wage and the family living wage as taught by Catholic Social Teaching’s (CST), a set of papal and conciliar documents that deal with the Christian faith and social concerns. It also evaluates the adequacy and morality of the minimum wage using CST principles. It argues that the minimum wage may be legal as it conforms to government statutes, but immoral as it deviates significantly from the RCC’s ethical standard of a just wage. The study’s findings and analysis revealed that the minimum wage is grossly inadequate to address the workers’ personal and family needs as preached by CST.

Keywords

• minimum wage
• labor
• family living wage
• catholic social teaching
• just wage
• roman catholic church