In its report released last week, the central bank said, based on a study in 2016, the living wages in Kuala Lumpur ranges from RM2,700 a month for an individual, RM4,500 for a couple without children, and RM6,500 monthly for a couple with two children.
The central bank has defined living wages as the level of income needed for a household to afford a minimum acceptable standard of living. BNM governor Muhammad Ibrahim said people should be paid so they could live comfortably.
Santiago said the government, opposition, trade unions and other stakeholders should welcome BNM’s recommendations which urges the government to set a minimum acceptable living standard by adopting living wages for all citizens.
“So, the pertinent question is whether trade unions and workers would turn BNM’s living wages recommendations into a major political campaign and demand that political parties accept the notion of living wages.”
The DAP lawmaker said the BNM report also clearly indicates that the 6% GDP growth that the government boasts of has not trickled down to the majority of people in the country.
The central bank, in its report, proposed a set of benchmarks that go beyond basic necessities, such as food, housing and clothing, to factor in personal and family development, including financial security.
“The report indirectly acknowledges persistent poverty and income inequality are functions of low wages and suggests that all segments of society should benefit from the country’s wealth,” Santiago said.
He claimed he had brought up the issue of living wages as early as 2011 when he, along with trade activists, social activists and political party leaders, held a discussion.
“In 2011, I organised a roundtable discussion on the government’s proposal for introduction of minimum wages.
“The roundtable suggested that instead of minimum wages, ‘decent living wages’ was a better term, referring to wages adequate for living with dignity.
“The participants proposed RM1,500 to RM2,000 as the decent living wages then.”
He added that the present approach to wage determination has to change as two authoritative studies by reputable organisations have called for higher wages for the poor.
Aside from the BNM Annual Report, Santiago was referring to the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (Unicef) report in February on urban poverty and malnourished children.
It revealed that one in five children in Kuala Lumpur’s working-class neighbourhoods, such as low-cost flats is stunted, while one in 10 is underweight.
The study showed that the prevalence of underweight, stunting and wasting among children aged below five living in low-cost flats in the capital is double the city’s average, while the number of overweight children is six times higher (23%).
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