The Festive season is all but over, and things are returning to normal. My Father-in-law returned to Caucasia yesterday, I have to say, I enjoyed his company, and Pépe was devastated when he left, he knew something was up, and stood in the window crying as we left to take Henri to the bus.
We just have one more event planned, and that is a family trip to see the Christmas lights in Medellin, probably next week.
The Government has just announced the rise in the minimum wage for this year to 616,000 Pesos a month or £192, it does humble you to think a family has to manage on that. The percentage rises over the last few years, sound good:
2006: 408,000 pesos and up 6.9 percent
2007: 433,700 pesos and up 6.3 percent
2008: 461,500 pesos and up 6.4 percent
2009: 496,900 pesos and up 7.7 percent
2010: 515,000 pesos and up 3.6 percent
2011: 535,600 pesos and up 4.0 percent
2012: 566,700 pesos and up 5.8 percent
2013: 589,500 pesos and up 4.02 percent
2014: 616,000 pesos and up 4.5 percent
But we all know that a percentage rise is only as good as the base figure, it will be a struggle for many, as prices are shooting up, way beyond the rise in wages. However it can not all be blamed on the Government here, because they are the decision maker of last resort in this case, the Employees and Employers Representatives have the option to reach agreement on the rise, and only if they can\’t reach agreement do the Government step in, and this is the second year in a row that this has happened.
When you think that my \’pension\’ is ten times the minimum wage, you can understand why the locals target Extranjeros, thinking they are all rich, but by Extranjero standards, I am the poor relation.
An Englishman in Colombia 