Poverty in the Philippines

The estimates of poverty incidence in the Philippines per province as of 2012. The national average is 22.3%, virtually unchanged from 2006's 23.4%.

Poverty remains a critical social problem that needs to be addressed. Philippines' poverty line marks a per capita income of 16,841 pesos a year.[1] According to the data from the National Statistical Coordination Board, more than one-quarter (27.9%) of the population fell below the poverty line the first semester of 2012, an approximate 1 per cent increase since 2009.[2] This figure is a slightly lower figure as compared to the 33.1% in 1991.[3]

The decline in poverty has been slow and uneven, much slower than neighboring countries who experienced broadly similar numbers in the 1980s,[4] such as People's Republic of China (PRC), Thailand, Indonesia (where the poverty level lies at 8.5%) or Vietnam (13.5%). This shows that the incidence of poverty has remained significantly high as compared to other countries for almost a decade. The unevenness of the decline has been attributed to a large range of income brackets across regions and sectors, and unmanaged population growth. The Philippines poverty rate is roughly the same level as Haiti.[4]

The government planned to eradicate poverty as stated in the Philippines Development Plan 2011-2016 (PDP). The PDP for those six years are an annual economic growth of 7-8% and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Under the MDGs, Philippines committed itself to having extreme poverty from a 33.1% in 1991 to 16.6% by 2015.[4]

Poverty dynamics

Rapid population growth

Given that the population of the Philippines is increasing at a rapid rate of 1.7% per year, this can be translated as an increase of more than 5,000 people daily in a country that already has an increase of more than four million poor people since 1985.[5] In 1985, the absolute number of people living in poverty was 26.5 million. This increased to 30.4 million in 2000 and from 2006 to 2009, increased by almost 970,000 Filipinos from 22.2 million to 23.1 million.[4]

As the Philippines has financially limited resources and a high poverty rate, the rapid increase in population has become a problem because there is insufficient resources to support the population, which leaves much fewer resources to improve the economy. From 2003 to 2006, even though the Philippines experienced above-average economic growth, the poverty incidence increased as a result of its population growth rate.[6]

Unemployment

Poverty reduction has not kept up with GDP growth rates, largely due to the high unemployment rate, high inflation rate and wide income inequality. The official rate of unemployment for 2012 in the Philippines was 6.8 per cent.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Leland Joseph R. Dela Cruz, 2009 Philippine Poverty, 9 February 2011, http://www.slideshare.net/ldelacruz/poverty-situationer-2011-8294418 (accessed February 15, 2012).
  2. ↑ Calderon, Justin (30 April 2013). "How feudalism will undo the Philippine elections". Inside Investor. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  3. ↑ Romulo A. Virola, 2009 Official Poverty Statistics, 8 February 2011, http://www.nscb.gov.ph/poverty/2009/Presentation_RAVirola.pdf (accessed February 15, 2012).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Philippines Development Plan 2011-2016 (Philippines 2011)
  5. ↑ Asian Development Bank, Poverty in the Philippines: Causes, Constraints and opportunities (Asian Development Bank, 2009).
  6. ↑ Philipinas Natin, In Pursuit of Inclusive Growth.
  7. ↑ "Philippine job growth lowest in ASEAN-5". Investvine.com. 2013-02-11. Retrieved 2013-03-15.