A paper titled “Strengthening Social Protection in the Philippines,” authored by PIDS Senior Fellow Celia Reyes, said the wages received by high-school graduates who joined the labor force are 40 percent higher compared to those who only graduated from elementary. “I would rather redesign it. Personally, its just one of the many [social-protection measures]. I think I would opt for livelihood and job-generation [social-protection programs] but if you have this, I think you should redesign it to make sure that it’s attaining its objectives. If you’re saying you want to break [the] intergenerational cycle of poverty, [students] have to have good jobs in the future,” Reyes said.
