Is it a question of eggs?
The Venezuelan Diaspora is one of the most notorious in South America in this first fifth of the 21st century, with special growth starting in 2011 according to unofficial figures.
The estimates according to an opinion study conducted between November and December 2017 by the firm Consultores 21, reveal that more than 4 million people have left the country.
A few days ago, without wanting to, I heard a conversation between two women who were in the same bus as me, they told how their sons and daughters had decided to leave the country, They talked about the motivations they had to leave the country.
These women and their families were not of high or middle social strata. They and their families were poor as they stated.
The dialogue between them and others of the people who were on board the bus, who joined the conversation, made me think about what things affected the decision to leave the country or not.
A couple of years ago, as some and some would remember, a similar situation led me to ask myself who has more eggs This time the conversation revolved around which country on the continent had the highest minimum wage.
I will try to illustrate the matter as on that occasion, with a little basic mathematics:
They tell me that in Santiago de Chile, in a supermarket, a dozen chicken eggs cost 1 850 Chilean pesos and in that country the minimum wage is set at 276 000 Chilean pesos.
That is, according to what I am told, a person who receives a minimum wage in Chile would earn 1790.34 chicken eggs per month.
In Peru, the minimum wage is 850 soles and they tell me that in the city of Cuzco a dozen chicken eggs costs 6 soles. That is, a person who works for minimum wage in this city would charge 1700 chicken eggs per month.
In Ecuador, the minimum wage is currently set at 386 dollars, and to whom I consulted, it indicates that in the city of Cuenca a chicken egg costs 0.15 dollars. So a person who works a month for minimum wage would charge 2573.33 chicken eggs.
In Panama, the minimum wage is by region, for region 1 it is set at 721 dollars and they tell me that a carton of 30 chicken eggs in Panama City costs 5 dollars, so that a person who works and earns minimum wage would charge 4506.25 chicken eggs.
In Argentina, the minimum wage is set at 10,000 Argentine pesos, and they tell me that in Buenos Aires a carton of 30 chicken eggs costs 50 Argentine pesos. That is to say, that speaking of eggs we would have to say that whoever works one month for minimum wage in Buenos Aires, would gain 6024.09 chicken eggs per month.
I also consulted someone in Georgia - Atlanta, United States, and he told me that a dozen chicken eggs in that city cost $ 1.47 and that the minimum an employer pays his workers is $ 7.25 per hour of work. .
That is to say, if a person works 8 hours a day and 5 days a week for a month in Georgia, he would charge approximately 10633.33 chicken eggs.
We could travel the entire continent, I have someone to greet and consult in Colombia, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and other continents as well. But I think the point is quite clear.
Although there are notable differences between one country and another, with security in any country other than Venezuela a person who works a whole month and earns a minimum wage can eat more than 50 chicken eggs a day for 30 days. While in Maracaibo to date (February 2018) they could only eat less than one chicken egg per day.
That is to say, in the country in which they earn less chicken eggs, they earn 100 times what a person in Maracaibo. Well to date (February 2018) in Maracaibo, Venezuela, 1 chicken egg costs 15 thousand bolivars and the minimum wage is set at 248510 bolivars per month.
Speaking of chicken eggs, a person who in Venezuela for his work receives the minimum wage is earning 16.56 chicken eggs.
If we take into account the food bonus set at 549,000 bolivars per month, we have an "integral" salary of 797510 bolivars, we would be talking about 53,16 chicken eggs.
In the case of professionals, the panorama is not more encouraging, since a full professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Zulia earns 1399000 bolivars. To this amount we add bonuses for seniority, academic degree, among others that can raise it up to 1 million more and that less deductions end up being between 1900000 to 2000000 bolivars per month. That is approximately 133.33 chicken eggs per month.
But, what is the way to be a full professor in that faculty of said university?
At the University of Zulia the professional teaching ranges from lowest to highest are: instructor, assistant, aggregate, associate and holder.
Between one and the other, 5 years of teaching must be completed and for the last rank 4 years, an investigation must also be done to be considered by a jury appointed by the university to approve the promotion.
As for the academic degree, to be a minimum assistant you must have a specialist degree, for an aggregate you must be a magister and for an associate and holder you must have a PhD.
The only shortcut for promotion is to start the advanced professional career without completing all the years of teaching, because as it is difficult to win a university professor contest with a basic degree, the majority is already presented with postgraduate studies and are located in the range that corresponds.
In short, after 15 to 18 years of studies and surely more than a decade of experience who opts in Venezuela for university teaching could earn 4 chicken eggs and a half for day.
To those who asked about the cost of eggs and the minimum wage in each of the countries mentioned, I also asked them to tell me three different reasons why they decided to leave the country. Although some reasons do not coincide 83% included in their motives the economic issue, they say that they left because they wanted to have the possibility of earning more chicken eggs for their work.
Less than two years ago, when I wrote who has more eggs, in all the countries consulted for both publications you bought fewer eggs in 2016 than today with the minimum wage set for that nation, with the exception of Venezuela.
By May 2016, a Venezuelan or Venezuelan who earned a minimum wage could buy 373.73 eggs considering the so-called "integral salary" or 167.23 chicken eggs if we do not consider the food bonus.
With this, this item multiplied its cost more than 165 times in 21 months, we speak of more than sixteen thousand five hundred percent increase in the price, from 90 to 15000 bolivars per unit, while the minimum wage multiplied its net value 15.51 times, that is, it rose a little more than 1500%, going from 15051 to 248510 bolivars.
This, as before, is not a scientific study, it is only a reference that helps to understand why one of the factors of incidence in the accelerated increase of the Venezuelan diaspora, as we perceive it, is the serious economic crisis of the country and forces us to put it as an URGENT attention task.
I do not speak English, I made this translation thanks to Google
El Texto original en español puedes leerlo acá: ¿Irse es cuestión de huevos?
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