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Costa Rica Per Capita Income Question
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Author:  Californicationdude [ Wed Sep 21, 2005 5:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Costa Rica Per Capita Income Question
Just a note that when I did a web search on Per Capita Income in Costa Rica, I found info showing that the average wage is about $5000 (US) per year, or about $100 (US) per week (and that amount is surely even lower for domestics and other common labor).
Also, I saw an even larger drop in Income/Educational levels from Urban to Rural populace. Thus, if in the United States, the Per Capita Income is over $30,000, then when we pay a little darling $100 for an hours time, we are paying the equivalent of $600-$700 for an hour of a US little darling's time. I won't even go into the average per capita educational level of less than a middle school level.
Now, I am not trying to be smart or disrespectful, but is not a present/contribution of $20-$40 a generous measure for some companionship (thowing aside any moral arguement) of an hour?
I would welcome any comments from the members, especially any of the vets whom live/visit often, on their take on the socio/economic makeup and conditions of Costa Rica.
Author:  Irish Drifter [ Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:26 pm ]
Post subject: 
Californicationdude wrote:

Quote:
Now, I am not trying to be smart or disrespectful, but is not a present/contribution of $20-$40 a generous measure for some companionship (thowing aside any moral arguement) of an hour?


For many who live here 12 to 15000 colones (plus taxi) is the going rate for local talent. Until a few months ago it was 10 to 12000 colones but devaluation and inflation have taken there toll.

This is for girls who usually live in Desamparados or Hatillo, live at home or with a boyfriend or a couple of girls sharing apartment. They usually have 1 or 2 K*ds and their only source of income is from being a prostitute.

They do not work the BM or tourist bars but work Tico places and have over the years made contacts in the expatriate community. They have gringos who they see on a regular basis or who they call looking for work and coming over when asked.

The chance of the average tourist monger meeting one of these girls is slim and the working girls who a monger does meet are not going to work for that amount of money.
Author:  ShyOne [ Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:32 pm ]
Post subject: 
Check out this very good post by Ding Dong for a breakdown
on average wages in Costa Rica:

https://costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/vi ... php?t=5100

ShyOne
Author:  Right Hand Man [ Wed Sep 21, 2005 6:40 pm ]
Post subject: 
Tico prices and gringo prices?

Supply & demand: it's all market driven. Too many tourists pay more than $50. Therefore, chicas know they can charge more than $50 to tourists.

The "never pay cien/hour" mentality might serve us better if we tweaked it to : "only pay $50"
Author:  Puff [ Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:01 pm ]
Post subject: 
Pardon my niavete but here is what I don't understand. When I eat at the News Cafe if is usually filled with Ticos and Ticas (no not with mongers). I also notice that a typical meal there is same or not much less then in the U.S.. Now if they are only making between 10 and 20 dollars per day why are they spending it almost all just on lunch?
Author:  D2864 [ Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:19 pm ]
Post subject: 
Puff wrote:
Now if they are only making between 10 and 20 dollars per day why are they spending it almost all just on lunch?



Good point. I've noticed that eating out is nearly the same price as in the USA - why? I've ate at some normal, non-tourist, places too. Even the KFC beside the Presidente isn't much different than USA prices.

I don't think the prices in the department stores are much different than the USA either. When I convert the price, it isn't much less than the USA.

If they are only making 5000 a year - what's up with the prices? It seems the prices should be no more than half of what they are in the USA.

This topic is confusing and something that I've wondered about quite often.
Author:  Cygnus [ Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:33 pm ]
Post subject: 
Consider the CR underground economy, with most income not reported to taxing authorities. :shock:

Tax avoidance is 2-3 times greater in CR- than USA -- thus national income statistics are greatly skewed lower. The per capita income reported by CR Govt Bureaus is wrong by a factor of 2-3 [lower]

I know, having to support a CR family and account for the expenditures :roll:

Maybe CPA Prolijo can expound with more precise info on the CR economy as per CR Govt and the REAL Economy. :?: :idea:

Cyg :wink:
Author:  Bilko [ Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:54 pm ]
Post subject: 
Ah, where to start...

Let's begin with the 'cien' bit. The girls who actually make that, a small minority from what I see, don't make $100 EVERY hour by any means. A few of the best/hottest businesswomen at the BM may do multiple clients a night, but MANY more average LESS than one a night, often one customer every several nights. All of a sudden, it's not 100 an hour but 200 or 300 a week, not much to shout about.

As far as prices go, I have found that many things are about the same price, some higher, and some cheaper than the US. My own rule of the thumb is that if it is imported, it's more expensive. If it is labor intensive, it's cheaper. A computer is expensive, a maid to clean your apartment isn't. Restaurant meals are similar. If it's a chain like KFC, it's about the same or worse even. If it's a local soda, it's cheaper. If it's a tourist trap, it's probably cheaper than tourist traps in the USA. Medical costs are WAY lower because Doctors and Dentists aren't paid like rock stars.

Other than labor costs, there is no reason things should be cheaper in Costa Rica. We live in a global economy, for better or worse. Gas prices are based on market forces, not on how well the locals can afford to fill up their tanks.
Author:  Prolijo [ Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:05 pm ]
Post subject: 
Cygnus and Bilko raised some excellent points and rather than expound further on that I'll leave it at what they said so well. Instead I'll comment on some other aspects of points that were raised.
Puff wrote:
Pardon my niavete but here is what I don't understand. When I eat at the News Cafe if is usually filled with Ticos and Ticas (no not with mongers). I also notice that a typical meal there is same or not much less then in the U.S.. Now if they are only making between 10 and 20 dollars per day why are they spending it almost all just on lunch?
There are a number of possible explanations including the possibility that they're ordering from a different menu and getting tico prices. There is also the point raised by Cygnus that maybe they're really earning more than you think and not spending as a high a portion of their disposable income as you think. But here is a question for you. In the US, if you go into Neiman Marcus it is usually filled with shoppers. If they're making the typical US income how can they afford to shop there? Answer: they're not making the typical US income. They generally come from the wealthier classes of our society. The typical Tico can not afford to go to expensive restaurants every day, but some can. OTOH, using Cali's scale a $2 lunch at a tico soda is equivalent to a $12 lunch in the US, more than I like to spend everyday but not that outrageous for many cities in the US.

Now Cali's argument is a bit more complex and interesting. I actually agree with his analysis for the most part. Another problem with it besides what Bilko and Cygnus ahave already pointed out is that it ignores differences from the median that are unique to each country. Okay, maybe we sometimes overpay for hookers when we compare it to relative CR median levels of income. But maybe that is just a reflection of what the market will bear.

Consider this, according to DD's AMCostaRica article, in CR the minimum wage for someone like a janitor, a messenger or an elevator operator is $253 while a university master’s degree holder is $576. A private accountant, my occupation, gets $423/month, or only about 67% more than a janitor. In the US, a janitor makes, what, maybe 18-20K/yr and a typical accountant makes about $50k/yr or over 167% more than janitor. Of course, I do even better than that :D . Using logic similar to Cali's, I'm being comparatively overpaid. That very well might be true, but I certainly don't see it that way.

Here's an example the other way. According to DD's article a journalist in CR gets a minimum of $710/month or about 180% more than the poor janitor. In the US, what does a typical reporter get? Maybe $40K/year unless he's a broadcast star like Dan Rather. That's only a little over 100% more than the janitor. EUsing Cali's logic, either our guys are way underpaid or their reporters are getting way too much.

Okay, so what does all this mean and who really cares what CR reporters or little old Prolijo gets paid? The point is that you can't simply compare median incomes and say that prostitutes in CR should get paid 1/6 of what they get paid in the US. It really all depends on what the local market will bear. A better argument for paying them less is the rates that chicas will work for in the typical tico MP's.
Author:  Witling [ Wed Sep 21, 2005 11:43 pm ]
Post subject: 
One other factor that might skew the CR wage averages is the disproportionate number of low-income workers compared to the very small majority who can afford to pay prices similar to the US.

In otherwords, there are a lot of low paid workers who we never see. Those are NOT the ones paying US prices.
Author:  PacoLoco [ Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:25 am ]
Post subject: 
One thing I've heard mentioned is that CR has no (or a very limited) "middle class" as we know it. Ticos either have money or they have little, and there is a "class" separation because of it. For instance a "poor" Tica will never marry into a familia with money as it just doesn't happen, which is one reason they end up at places like the HDR. The hopes of landing a rich Gringo may also be seen as one of the only options for a "way out".
This class separation theory seems logical, how true is it?
Author:  Prolijo [ Thu Sep 22, 2005 11:38 am ]
Post subject: 
PacoLoco wrote:
One thing I've heard mentioned is that CR has no (or a very limited) "middle class" as we know it. Ticos either have money or they have little, and there is a "class" separation because of it. For instance a "poor" Tica will never marry into a familia with money as it just doesn't happen, which is one reason they end up at places like the HDR. The hopes of landing a rich Gringo may also be seen as one of the only options for a "way out".
This class separation theory seems logical, how true is it?

Interesting! Rich ticos are much smarter than many gringos. They know a poor tica is fine to have as a mistress but never to marry. Maybe, we should learn from them in this regard.
Author:  D2864 [ Thu Sep 22, 2005 12:11 pm ]
Post subject: 
Prolijo wrote:
Interesting! Rich ticos are much smarter than many gringos. They know a poor tica is fine to have as a mistress but never to marry. Maybe, we should learn from them in this regard.



If only I could get a poor gringa to want me.....
Author:  Bilko [ Thu Sep 22, 2005 1:02 pm ]
Post subject: 
[quote="Dwayne2864
If only I could get a poor gringa to want me.....[/quote]

Dwayne, you should come visit me. I can find you a bunch of crank-using drama queens with no teeth who would spend whatever you throw their way on drugs and bail for their ex boyfriends.
Author:  LVSteve [ Thu Sep 22, 2005 6:35 pm ]
Post subject: 
HERE IS A LIST OF SOME OF THE THINGS THAT ARE MUCH CHEAPER HERE THAN IN THE US:

FOOD - IF YOU BUY RICE, BEANS, FRUITS AND VEGTABALES.

RENT - COMPARED TO LAS VEGAS, ABOUT HALF.

DENTAL CARE - MANY PEOPLE COME HERE JUST FOR BRIDGE WORK OR EVEN SIMPLE WORK LIKE CAVATIES - ABOUT HALF OR LESS THAN HALF.

MEDICAL CARE - THIS BOARD IS FULL OF EXAMPLES WHERE PEOPLE PAY THE EQUILIVENT OF 5 OR 10 DOLLARS FOR A DR. VISIT.

DRUGS - AGAIN, THE BOARD IS FULL OF EXAMPLES. MINE IS HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE MEDICATION WHICH COST ME ABOUT 12.00 PER MONTH AND I USED TO PAY 40.00 OR 50.00 DOLLARS.

UTILITIES:
PHONE IN THE STATES WAS ABOUT 45.00 TO 50.00 PER MONTH, HERE IT RUNS 12.00.
ELECTRIC IN THE STATES WAS ABOUT 95.00 (0N AVERAGE) PER MONTH, HERE, I PAY 19.00 OR 20.0O PER MONTH.
CABLE TV AND COMPUTER HOOK UP: IN THE STATES, IT RAN 107.00 PER MONTH. HERE, I PAY 56.00 A MONTH FOR AMNET, RASCA SERVICE FOR BOTH CABLE FOR TV AND MY HIGH SPEED INTERNET HOOK UP.

CLOTHES: THERE ARE MANY PLACES (LIQUIDATORS) WHERE YOU CAN BUY AMERICAN SHIRTS FOR 1,000. COLONES.

RESTURANTS - I EAT AT GOOD RESTURANTS LIKE STEAK HOUSES FOR 20.00 A HEAD INCLUDING A BEER. IN NY AND LA, YOU PAY 40 - 50.00 PER HEAD (0R MORE).

FURNITURE: I HAD CUSTOM MADE FURNITURE MADE FOR MY CONDO - INCLUDING A QUEEN BED WITH MATTRESS, 2 NIGHTSTANDS, COFFEE TABLE, ENTERTAINMENT CENTER FOR TV AND STEREO, LARGE BOOKCASE, COMPUTER DESK AND END TABLES FOR A TOTAL OF 1300.00 US. I HAVE A BROTHER IN LAW WHO TOLD ME THAT IT WOULD HAVE COST A MINIMUM OF 8,000. US FOR THE SAME IN THE US.

CAR REPAIR AND PARTS - A JOKE HERE. MAJOR WORK DONE OVER THE PAST YEAR - TRANSMISSION, REPLACMENT OF DOOR, HOOD, CLUTCH ALL DONE AND INSTALLED FOR A FRACTION OF WHAT IT WOULD HAVE RUN IN THE US.

CAR INSURANCE- LAS VEGAS - 1200.00 PER YEAR. CR - 400.00 PER YR.

THESE ARE BUT A FEW REASONS WHY PEOPLE WHO LIVE HERE CAN AFFORD TO SPRULGE AT THE NEWS CAFE OCCASIONALLY.

LVSTEVE
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