Philippine Poverty
Leland Joseph R. Dela Cruz
Development Studies Program
School of Social Sciences
Ateneo de Manila University
Outline of the Presentation
1.
2.
3.
Poverty Measurements
Causes of Poverty
Poverty Sectors
Outline of the Presentation
1.
Poverty Measurements
a.
b.
c.
2.
3.
Income Measures
Perception-based Measures
Basic Needs Measures
Causes of Poverty
Poverty Sectors
When is a person considered
poor?


A poor person is someone who earns
income below the official poverty line or
poverty threshold.
The poverty line measures the income
needed to obtain basic and non-basic
needs for one year.
How does the government
compute for the poverty line?
1.
2.
3.
The government constructs a menu per
region that satisfies basic nutritional
requirements. The government computes
for the cost of that menu. (ex. P43, Y104)
The government computes for the
proportion of income that is budgeted for
food using survey data. (ex. 66%)
The figure obtained in #1 is divided by the
figure obtained in #2. (ex. P43 / 66% =
P65, Y157)
What is the NCR poverty line
(2008)?
Individual/ year*
Individual/ month*
Individual/ day*
Family/ year*
Family/ month
Family/ day*
*Unofficial, self-computed
P24,000.00
Y58,269.00
P2,000.00
Y4,855.75
P65.76
Y159.64
P120,000.00
Y291,345
P10,000.00
Y24, 278.75
P328.77
Y798.20
What is the Philippine poverty
line (2006)?
Individual/ year
NSCB
Individual/ month*
Individual/ day*
Family/ year*
Family/ month*
Family/ day*
*Unofficial, self-computed
P15,057.57
Y36,557.00
P1,254.80
Y3,046.41
P41.26
Y100.15
P75,287.85
Y182,785.00
P6,273.99
Y15,232.08
P206.29
Y500.78
Poverty incidence

32.9% or 27.6 million Filipinos are poor.


2006, NSCB
32.9% of Filipinos earn less than P15,057.57 a
year (Y36,557), P1,254.80 a month (Y3,046) and
P41.26 a day (Y100.15).
26.9% or 4.6 million Filipino families are
poor.

26.9% of families earn less than P75,287.85 a
year (Y182,705), P6,273.99 a month (Y15,232.08)
and P206.29 a day (Y500.78).
Poorest Provinces (2006)
Poverty Incidence
Tawi-Tawi, Mindanao
78.9%
Zamboanga del Norte, Mindanao
63.0%
Maguindanao, Mindanao
62.0%
Apayao, Northern Luzon
57.5%
Surigao del Norte, Mindanao
53.2%
Lanao del Sur, Mindanao
52.5%
Northern Samar, Visayas
52.2%
Masbate, Southern Luzon
51.0%
Abra, Northern Luzon
50.1%
Misamis Occidental, Mindanao
48.8%
NSCB
Least Poor Provinces (2006)
NSCB
Poverty Incidence
Batanes, Northern Luzon
0%
Rizal, Adjacent to NCR
6.4%
Bataan, Luzon
6.8%
Cavite, Adjacent to NCR
7.8%
Benguet, Luzon
8.2%
Pampanga, Adjacent to NCR
8.3%
Bulacan, Adjacent to NCR
10.0%
Laguna, Adjacent to NCR
10.6%
Nueva Vizcaya, Luzon
12.7%
Quirino, Luzon
15.9%
Poverty trends
NSCB
35
30
25
20
2000
2003
2006
15
10
5
0
Families
Individuals
Philippine Poverty Incidence:
Families (Percentage) NSCB
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
Philippine Poverty Incidence:
Individuals (Percentage) NSCB
60
50
40
% 30
20
10
0
1988
1991
1994
1997
2000
2003
Gini Coefficient
Country
Gini ratio Country
Gini ratio
Denmark
0.247 Hong Kong
0.434
Japan
0.249 Philippines
0.445
Italy
0.360 Mexico
0.461
India
0.368 Guatemala
0.551
U.S.A.
0.408 Namibia
0.743
Philippine data: UNDP, 2004 as cited in Wikipedia
Self-Rated Poverty
Pulse-Asia
Philippines
June
2004
70%
October
2004
70%
March
2005
70%
Class ABC
37%
21%
35%
Class D
68%
68%
69%
Class E
84%
87%
82%
Self-Rated Poverty
Pulse-Asia
NCR
June
2004
52%
October
2004
41%
March
2005
48%
Luzon
69%
69%
66%
Visayas
71%
82%
80%
Mindanao
80%
79%
81%
Rural
73%
83%
82%
Urban
66%
57%
58%
Self-Rated Poverty
SWS
Summary
Official
Statistics
Perceptionbased measure
Poverty
Incidence
25%
50-70%
Poverty
threshold
P6,273.99
(Y15,232) a
month
P10,000
(Y26,623) a
month
Access to basic needs
Indicator
With access to safe drinking water
% of
population
80.2%
With sanitary toilet
86.2%
With access to electricity
79.7%
With own house and lot
64.9%
With children 6-12 years old in
elementary
With children 13-16 years old in
high school
91.2%
36.1%
Informal Settlers
Insecure living
conditions
• Insecure land
tenure
• Cramped living
conditions
Informal Settlers
Inadequate
Shelter
Inappropriate
Living Conditions
Outline of the Presentation
1.
Poverty Measurements
a.
b.
c.
2.
3.
Income Measures
Perception-based Measures
Basic Needs Measures
Causes of Poverty
Poverty Sectors
Outline of the Presentation
1.
2.
Poverty Measurements
Causes of Poverty
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
3.
Inequality
Inflation
Weak Human Capital
Absence of Employment Opportunities
Weak Agricultural Sector
Poor Governance
Poverty Sectors
Outline of the Presentation
1.
2.
Poverty Measurements
Causes of Poverty
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
3.
Inequality
Inflation
Weak Human Capital
Absence of Employment Opportunities
Weak Agricultural Sector
Poor Governance
Poverty Sectors
The Economy Has Been
Growing
9
7
6
GROSS
DOMESTIC
PRODUCT
GROSS
NATIONAL
PRODUCT
5
4
3
2
1
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
-1
1998
0
1997
GDP/ GNP Growth Rates
8
The Economy Has Been
Growing


But poverty has not substantially
decreased
This may be due to unequal benefits
from economic growth


Unequal incomes
Unequal assets
Income Distribution
2006, NSO
% of Income
40
35
36
30
25
16.8
20
15
11.8
10
1.9
5
0
1st
3 3.8 4.7 5.8
3rd
7.1
5th
Decile
9
7th
9th
% of Income
Income Distribution
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1st to 7th
8th
9th
Decile
10th
Income Distribution
% of Income
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1st to 8th
9th to 10th
Decile
Unequal Asset Distribution:
Land Distribution
449 Landowners
50% of
land area
30 Landowners
50% of
land area
Land Distribution
449 Landowners
50% of
land area
29 Landowners
25% of
land area
1 Landowner
25% of
land area
Outline of the Presentation
1.
Poverty Measurements
2.
Causes of Poverty
a.
Inequality
b.
Inflation
c.
Weak Human Capital


d.
e.
f.
3.
Education
Health
Absence of Employment Opportunities
Weak Agricultural Sector
Poor Governance
Poverty Sectors
Inflation: Rice Prices
45
40
35
Rice Prices per
kilo
30
25
20
ry
ry
ch
r
a
a
a
u
ru
n
M
b
Ja
Fe
il
r
Ap
ay
M
e
n
Ju
ly
u
J
Self-Rated Hunger
Outline of the Presentation
1.
Poverty Measurements
2.
Causes of Poverty
b.
Inequality
Inflation
c.
Weak Human Capital
a.


d.
e.
f.
3.
Education
Health
Absence of Employment Opportunities
Weak Agricultural Sector
Poor Governance
Poverty Sectors
Inadequacies at the
Elementary Level
SEATS NEEDED
Quezon City
101,317
Kalookan
82,413
Lanao del Sur 1 73,472
Manila
73,180
Maguindanao
69,934
Camarines Sur
64,688
Iloilo
57,128
Davao City
53,885
Cavite
53,101
Bukidnon
48,771
PUPILS PER TEACHER
RATIO
Antipolo City
San Jose del Monte
Las Pinas
Maguindanao
Bayawan City
Muntinlupa
Talisay City
Kalookan
Rizal
Lapu-Lapu City
61.86
60.00
53.74
52.92
51.31
50.93
50.17
49.30
47.87
47.33
CLASSROOMS NEEDED TO
ACHIEVE 40 STUDENTS
PER CLASS RATIO
Quezon City
3,377
Kalookan
2,244
Rizal
1,533
Cavite
1,434
Manila
1,422
Antipolo City
1,193
Mal/Navotas
1,078
Taguig/Pateros 996
Las Pinas
882
Maguindanao
808
Source: Basic Education Information System, DepEd
Inadequacies at the
Secondary Level
Source: Basic Education Information System, DepEd
National Achievement Test
Scores


Elementary Average: 59.94%
High School Average: 46.64%
Third International Math and
Science Survey


Grade 4 Test: Philippines ranked 3rd
lowest among 25 countries (Japan
ranked 3rd highest behind Singapore
and Hong Kong)
Grade 8 Test: Philippines ranked 6th
lowest among 45 countries (Japan
ranked 5th highest behind Singapore,
Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan)
Outline of the Presentation
1.
Poverty Measurements
2.
Causes of Poverty
b.
Inequality
Inflation
c.
Weak Human Capital
a.


d.
e.
f.
3.
Education
Health
Absence of Employment Opportunities
Weak Agricultural Sector
Poor Governance
Poverty Sectors
Health Personnel by Location
Rural
Urban
Midwives
~30%
~60%
Nurses
~20%
~80%
Dentists
~10%
~90%
Doctors
~10%
~90%
62% migrate
to other
Source:
Dr. Merceditas Santos-Tuano, former Executive Director, Healthdev Institute
countries
Child Delivery Attendants
(2003, NDHS)
60
50
40
Urban
Rural
Phil.
30
20
10
0
Doctor
Nurse
Midwife
Hilot
Others
Child Delivery Attendants by
Income Quintiles (2003, NDHS)
80
70
60
Lowest
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
50
40
30
20
10
0
Doctor
Nurse
Midwife
Hilot
Others
Location of Child Delivery
(2003, NDHS)
80
70
60
50
Urban
Rural
Phil.
40
30
20
10
0
Govt Hospital
Private Hospital
Home
Location of Child Delivery by
Income Quintile (2003, NDHS)
90
80
70
60
Lowest
Second
Third
Fourth
Fifth
50
40
30
20
10
0
Govt Hospital
Private Hospital
Home
Outline of the Presentation
1.
Poverty Measurements
2.
Causes of Poverty
Inequality
Inflation
Weak Human Capital

Education

Health
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
3.
Absence of Employment
Opportunities
Weak Agricultural Sector
Poor Governance
Poverty Sectors
More than 8 million Filipinos
are working in other countries
Destination of Overseas
Filipino Workers
Destination of Overseas
Filipino Workers
Employment Abroad
Outline of the Presentation
1.
Poverty Measurements
2.
Causes of Poverty
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
3.
Inequality
Inflation
Weak Human Capital

Education

Health
Absence of Employment Opportunities
Weak Agricultural Sector
Poor Governance
Poverty Sectors
Outline of the Presentation
1.
2.
Poverty Measurements
Causes of Poverty
a.
Inequality
b.
Weak Human Capital

Education

Health
c.
Absence of Employment Opportunities
d.
Weak Agricultural Sector
e.
Poor Governance
Poverty Sectors
3.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Landless Rural Workers
Indigenous People
Fisherfolk
Small Farmers
Microentrepreneurs
Laborers
Landless Rural Farmers
No productive assets of
their own
Forced to sell their labor
to work on other
people’s farms
Land reform has not
really helped
Indigenous Peoples


Official estimates
at 12 million
Filipinos
A large proportion
are in Mindanao,
Cordillera
Autonomous
Region
Indigenous People



Threats to
Land Tenure
Lack of
access to
basic services
Internal
Displacement
Fisherfolk


Environmental
Degradation
Competition
from
Commercial
Fishermen
Fisherfolk


Access to Credit
Access to Markets
Microentrepreneurs



Access to Credit
Access to
Markets
Harassment
Laborers


Contractualization
Violations of
Labor Standards


Working
conditions
Payment
Small owner cultivators


Access to credit
Access to markets
Outline of the Presentation
1.
2.
3.
Poverty Measurements
Causes of Poverty
Poverty Sectors
Philippine Poverty
Leland Joseph R. Dela Cruz
Director, Development Studies Program
Ateneo de Manila University