I know, I know, that sounds completely unhelpful as you sit there working your butt off just to cover rent and groceries. BUT. The stats are in and we’re actually doing darn well, on a global scale. Picodi.com posed the question, can you live off minimum wage? They compared the prices of eight universal food groups in 52 countries and compared them with the minimum wages.
Now, I agree that this doesn’t factor in rental prices and therefore is missing a large chunk. However it does make you realise that, unfortunately, being able to afford groceries is something of a luxury.
What Are The Universal Food Groups?
Picodi.com admit that their grocery inclusions are short and frugal, but they wanted to look at what would meet the nutritional needs of an adult. The eight food groups looked at were bread, milk, rice, eggs, cheese, meat, fruits and vegetables. The prices of these are also constantly monitored around the world.
How Much Are Aussies Spending?
With this basic but nutritionally adequate shopping basket, Aussies are looking at about $184.66 per full grocery shop. And we are talking a VERY full shop, the proportions allowed int he analysis were quite generous. To break down that cost, here’s what your shopping list would be:
- Milk (10l) —$14.40
- Bread (10 loaves, 500g each) — $24.90
- Rice (2.5kg) — $3.89
- Eggs (20) — $7.05
- Cheese (1kg) — $8.77
- Poultry and beef (6kg) — $75.96
- Fruits (6kg) — $21.86
- Vegetables (8kg) — $27.83
What this equates too is Australians on minimum wage spending 6.7% of their income on groceries, and this conversion placed us at number one on the most affordable countries list.
Where Did Other Countries Rank?
The 52 countries included covered a good range and every continent, so a pretty good overview. Ireland came in second with 7.3% of their minimum wage being spent on basic groceries. United Kingdom was third at 7.7%.
Around the middle of the list sits Brazil with 31.5% of their minimum wage being spent on this food list, with Bulgaria around the same amount.
The worst? The Philippines came second last with a minimum wage spend percentage of 81.3%. Last place was taken by Nigeria, whose minimum wage is so low it doesn’t even cover the cost of this basic shopping basket.
You can find the full ranking here.
