We all know that the poor outnumber the rich, but what about the middle class?

Where is the line between rich and poor begin and end?
The peso gained strength at the beginning of the year and backed off a bit before summer began which means that the line for the middle class switched again.

In my opinion, a typical middle class pinoy family involvesone spouse (both) working abroad (a professional), thus able to send a remittance that's significantly higher than the minimum wage.

the philippines are losing out on middle class citizens. theyre all going abroad.

nope, usually only one leaves for abroad, the rest just wait for the remittances.

If you have a Home Theater, Karaoke, Computer, Telephone, Refrigerator, Washing Machine, Aircon, Gasul Stove, etc... then you are middle class. If you are missing one of the items above then you are below the middle class.

So you are saying that the "poor" of the Philippines are able to hire maids, nannies and washer women but they are not middle class without a washing machine and karaoke machine? Many an American woman would trade a vacumn cleaner or dish washer for a women who did all that house work. However American labor, even illegal alien labor, doesn't come as cheap

I feel like there is a middle class in the Philippines. When I was there a few years ago, i was staying w/ my relatives. They lived a pretty comfortable lifestyle, not rich, but comfortable. They had a TV, aircon, and other luxuries. They could afford to shop at the mall every now and then, and go to the movies. That's middle class Filipino to me. And it seems like there's a big middle class.

shouldn't there be an upper middle class and a lower middle class?
i dunno where to draw the lline though

Much of my family in the Philippines is pretty much in the middle class now. I really don't know how to define it, but if you have cable TV, a car to drive, a job, and possibly lots of big screen TVs and good food then your middle class.

i was middle class in the philippines. if its a pain for your parents to pay your tuition fee for private school, yet you're parents are still able to send you to a good school, then you're middle class.

Returned and retired OFW's.

At the place were I live most of my neighbors cook using the charcoal because they cannot afford an LPG stove so I assume that the middle class would have an LPG stove and only about 5% in our neighborhood owns an LPG stove and a refrigerator.

I think I'll break it into these:

Rich Class: Those who doen't really need to work hard for survival
Middle Class: Those who needs to work (higher middle class has office position or earns big capita incomes than the lower middle class)
Poor Class: Those who earns only the minimum wages and those who rely on alms and donations.

really? hmmmm...we have all that plus a toyota van, elf truck, truck that can carry 17 tons, multiple motorcycles and other things. we probly have all that coz we own a business. LOL. i guess, we're middle class.

I think some ppl are trying to equate the American middle class w/ the Filipino middle class. It's not the same thing. Just because you dont have a car in the Philippines doesnt mean you're not middle class. In a lot of places, especially in the city, you dont need a car to get around. Public transportation is big there. However, i do think a TV is a sign of middle class, along with airconditioning.

In the Philippines the Refrigerator, Washing Machine, Aircon, etc... are status symbols because electricity is very expensive in the Philippines that is why only a few or Middle Class can afford to operate them.

Only a few Filipinos own a car but many households even the Low Class has a Motorcycle.

How many homes have a computer w/ internet?

^ I'm not too sure, but I think computers are more a sign of upper class. Most of the houses I went to in the Philippines didnt have computers. But there were always internet cafes (nothing fancy) in most middle class neighborhoods of cities. Even when I was out in the countryside, it was only a short drive to a computer.

Very few households in the Philippines has a computer but there are Internet Cafes everywhere and they just go there for the Internet with a rate of 10 pesos per hour. A Computer is 200 watts and consumes much electricity.

^ man in here it's 20/hour

believe it or not we just had our very first pc at home in 1995
and had our internet connection two years ago
added a family-owned laptop last year...

Maybe that P20/hour Internet Cafe has Aircon the P10/hour has no Aircon.

So I'm guessing everyone from the Phil's using a computer is upper middle class? Of course excluding people using someone else's computer.

^ you can say that...