Dominican workers struggle to afford basic food basket

A study conducted by the Juan Bosch Foundation and the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) reveals that 39.7% of Dominican workers cannot cover the basic family food basket with their primary occupation's income.

The research, titled ‘When working is not enough: insufficient wages and working poverty in the Dominican Republic’, used Central Bank data and set the 2025 monthly food basket reference at RD$23,268. This metric focuses strictly on primary labor income, excluding remittances, pensions, or secondary jobs.

Francisco Tavárez, director of the UASD Socioeconomic Research Institute, noted a significant gap between productivity and wages. Between 2018 and 2025, hourly labor productivity rose by 33.8%, while real hourly income grew by only 12.8%. Tavárez attributed this disparity to an economic model based on tax incentives and low labor costs, compounded by low unionization rates, which currently stand at less than 7% of the workforce.