Republic of the Philippines

UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN PHILIPPINES

Tamag, Vigan City
2700 Ilocos Sur

COLLEGE OF SOCIAL WORK

D. Poverty

Refers to individuals and families whose

income falls below the poverty threshold as
defined by the government.(Based on
Republic Act 8425, Social Reform and
PovertyAlleviation Act of 1997).
The inability to attain a minimal standard
of living, including both basic nutritional
requirements, i.e., consumption needs, and
some degree of participation, as a result of
unequal social relations in society.
Poverty is a state or condition in which a
person lacks the financial resources and
essentials for a certain standard of living.
Poverty can have diverse social, economic,
and political causes and effects. Wikipedia
Poverty is the state of being poor or
deficient in money or means of subsistence
(Barker, 1995)
Poverty is a condition of being without
basic resources.
Poverty is generally thought of as material
deprivation.
Poverty can also be defined as inequality in
the distribution of income.
A particular living condition primarily
characterized by deprivation of basic needs for decent and meaningful existence
It is a condition that is said to exist when people are lack the means to satisfy their
basic needs (Leonora De Guzman)
condition which the basic needs are not being met and people lack the necessary
food, clothing or shelter or survivor

Major Types of Poverty

1. Absolute Poverty
A condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs that
includes foods, safe drinking water,sanitation,facilities,health,shelter, education
and information .
Includes not only the deprivation in income but also in availing social services.

According to DavidGordon'spaper "Indicator of poverty and hunger in UN",Absolute

Poverty is the absence of any of the two:
➔ Food
➔ Safe Drinking water
➔ Health
➔ Education
➔ Shelter
➔ Information
➔ Access to services

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2. Relative Poverty
It is the condition in which people lack the minimum amount of income needed to
maintain the average standard of living in the society in which they live.
This is defined relative to the members of the society therefore differs across
countries and across time.
A condition where basic needs may be met, but an average standard of living
compared to peers is not.

Relative poverty has a number of causes that contribute to negative outcomes, including:

➔ Unemployment
➔ Lack of education
➔ Lack of access to services
➔ Health complications, which can be a consequence as well as a cause of poverty
➔ Changing industry structures
➔ Climate change
➔ Discrimination and inequality

MINOR TYPES OF POVERTY

1. Economic Poverty - Lack of monetary demands for providing themselves with food,
cloth and shelter.
2. Bodily Poverty - Lack of property, physical health and access to health services.
3. Spiritual Poverty - Lack of feeling of brotherhood/being together.
4. Political Poverty - Lack of understanding how our political system works.
5. Societal Poverty - Lack of society connection or access to services
6. Mental Poverty - Lack of access to education and information.
7. Cultural Poverty - Lack of state of unity in the society in terms of traditions and cultures

WHO ARE THE POOR?

The poor are those members of the community who are deprived of:
P-participation in decision making
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O-opportunity and access to basic services
O-ownership of assets to allow sustained income
R-resources to meet basic needs

The following are also considered poor:

❖ Disadvantaged Communities - are communities that have inadequate resources or

facilities such as roads, water system, electricity, and absence of natural resources.
❖ Disadvantaged Families - families belonging to the bottom 30 percent of the income
strata.
❖ Disadvantaged Persons/Groups - individuals or groups of individuals who are considered
vulnerable and marginalized.These include needy family heads and other needy adults,
children in especially difficult circumstances, out-of-school youths, persons with
disabilities, distressed individuals, and families due to natural and human-induced
disasters.

Dimensions of Poverty

The concept of multi-dimensional poverty, which talks of poverty more than just
the lack of income, is generally accepted today. In fact, the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) talks of "ending poverty in all its forms everywhere" (emphasis added).
Understanding the many dimensions of poverty,ranging from health, education, income,
participation, and empowerment is crucial in social work practice.
The multi-dimensional poverty index (MPI) looks beyond income to understand
how people experience poverty in multiple and simultaneous ways. It looks at poverty
across three key dimensions:health, education, and standard of living, comprising 10
indicators. People who experience deprivation at least one third of these weighted
indicators fall into the category of multidimensionally poor.

DIMENSIONS OF POVERTY INDICATORS

HEALTH Nutrition
Child Mortality

EDUCATION Years of Schooling

School Attendance

STANDARD OF LIVING Sanitation

Drinking Water
Electricity
Housing
Assets

Approaches in Measuring Poverty

A. Global Data Poverty Measurement using MPI (Multidimensionally Poor)

The 2022 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) and publication "Global
Multidimensional Poverty Index 2022: Unpacking deprivation bundles to reduce
multidimensional poverty.

The 2022 global MPI compares acute multidimensional poverty for 111 countries
in developing regions. These countries are home to 6.1 billion people, three-quarters of
the world’s population. Of these people, the report finds that 1.2 billion (19.1%) are
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identified as multidimensionally poor. The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index
(MPI)measures the complexities of poor people's lives, individually and collectively, each
year. It provides a comprehensive picture of global poverty trends using indicators

B. Measuring Economic Aspects of Poverty (Income Poor)

Measuring poverty through economic indicators is the most common way of
measuring poverty.It is usually referred to the monetary dimension of poverty. It uses
consumption vs income measures of welfare and looks at the household expenditures as
opposed to household income.

The limitations of this measure, however, is that households may be reluctant to report
income if they have engaged in tax evasion or have illegal earnings. Moreover, some income
types are not always easy to measure such as farm income or changes in the value of assets (e.g.
farm assets, housing, etc.) Rural Areas are also dependent on rain-fed agriculture.

Three basic steps in measuring poverty:

1. An indicator of welfare must be defined

2. A minimum acceptable standard of that indicator must be established to separate the poor
from the non-poor. That standard is often known as the poverty line.
3. A summary statistic must be devised to aggregate the information obtained from the
distribution of the chosen welfare indicator. The position of that summary statistic
relative to minimum acceptable standards must be determined.

Key Terms in measuring income poverty:

Poverty Line-represents a minimum standard required by an individual to fulfill his or her

basic food and non-food needs. The amount of a household's consumption is measured
against the poverty line to determine whether that household is in poverty.
Headcount index - by far the most widely used aggregate measure of poverty. It simply
measures the proportion of the population that is counted as poor.
Poverty Gap Index - adds up the distances that poor people fall from the poverty line and
expresses the sum as a percentage of the poverty line. The poverty gap index is thought
of as a way to measure the total cost of bringing each poor member of a society up to the
poverty line, but it depends for accuracy on exact information on each poor member of
society—information that very few governments have.
Advantages of the poverty gap index:
1. It gives policy makers an idea of the minimum amount of financial resources that
would be needed to tackle poverty.

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2. It highlights the importance of identifying the characteristics of the poor, as it
demonstrates the potential savings of well-targeted programs to alleviate poverty.
Squared poverty gap - this is often described as a measure of the severity of poverty.
While The poverty gap takes into account the distance separating the poor from the
poverty line,the squared poverty gap uses the square of that distance. Thus, the poverty
gap is weighted by itself, giving more weight to the very poor.
Poverty profiles - a poverty profile is a comprehensive poverty comparison that
demonstrates how poverty varies across subgroups of society. After setting out the major
facts on poverty and inequality, the poverty profile examines the pattern of poverty by
geography (region,urban/rural, mountain/plain, and so on), by community characteristics
(for example,communities with or without a school), and by household characteristics
(for example, by education of household head or by size of household).
Vulnerability - while poverty is being reduced in many countries, detailed analysis of
household data indicates that in most countries, many households live with incomes
barely above the national poverty line. When a household is near the poverty line, that
household is said to be vulnerable. A natural disaster, economic shock, or change in
policy may affect its consumption level and cause it to fall below the poverty line. Poor
delivery of public services increases the chance that the near poor will fall into poverty.

C. Poverty Related Statistics in the Philippines (as reported by Philippine Statistics Authority)
Poverty Threshold - is the minimum income required for basic food and non-food needs
such as clothing, housing, transportation, health, & education expenses.
Poverty Incidence - proportion of poor Filipinoswhose per capita income is not sufficient
to meet their basic food and non-food needs.
Food Threshold - is the minimum income required to meet basic food needs and satisfy
the nutritional requirements set by the Food andNutrition Institute (FNRI) to ensure that
one remains economically and socially productive. It is used to measure extreme or
subsistence poverty.
Subsistence Incidence-proportion of Filipinoswho are often referred to as those in
extreme poverty or whose income is not enough to meet even the basic food needs, was
registered at 5.2percent in 2018. The monthly food threshold for a family of five was
estimated, on average, atPHP 7,528.00.
Poverty among Families-a crucial social indicator that guides policy makers in their
efforts to alleviate poverty.
Poor Families-this is defined as the proportion of families whose income is below the
poverty line.The proportion of poor families in 2018 was estimated at 12.1 percent, which
is equivalent to around three million families. Meanwhile, the subsistence incidence
among families was recorded at 3.4 percent, or around 800 thousand food poor families
in 2018.
Income Gap-measures the income required by the poor in order to get out of poverty.

Where is this data coming from?

Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES)-is the official poverty statistics of the Philippines
Based on the income data, which is conducted in two visits by the Philippine Statistics Authority
Every three years since 1985.Other than poverty incidence, FIES also provides data on the
distribution of families by income class, income decile distribution, sources of income, spending
pattern by income class and poverty related indicators like housing characteristics.During periods
when FIES is not conducted, there are no available statistics to use in assessing and monitoring
poverty. Hence, the Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) is conducted. TheAPIS is a
response to the demand for statistics relating to poverty.

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Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS)-nationwide survey that presents data on the
socio-economic profile of Filipino families, and other information that relates to their living
conditions.It is designed to provide inputs to the development of an integrated poverty indicator
and monitoring system in the country, hence, useful to policymakers and researchers in analyzing
poverty situation, and in planning, assessing, and evaluating various programs designed for the
poor through the use of non-income indicators.

The data items to be collected in the survey include:

1. demographic and socio-economic characteristics of families
2. education assistance
3. health status and nutrition and hunger
4. social protection
5. access to government services
6. Housing
7. water, sanitation, and hygiene
8. drug awareness and prevention

Final Report contains national and regional tables as well as graphical presentation of
selected demographic, social, and economic data which have been established to be correlated
with poverty. The APIS is also designed to provide estimates for non-income poverty indicators
and gather data on the socio-economic profile of families and other information that are related
to their living conditions which serve as inputs to the estimation of Multidimensional Poverty
Index(MPI).

Poverty Situation in the Philippines

A. History of Poverty

❖ In 1985, slightly more than half the population lived below the poverty line. The
economic turndown in the early 1980s and the economic and political crisis had a
devastating impact on living standards.
❖ The countryside contained a disproportionate share of the poor. More than 80 percent of
the poorest 30 percent of families in the Philippines lived in rural areas in the mid-1980s.
The Majority were tenant farmers or landless agricultural workers.
❖ Urban areas also experienced poverty. The urban poor generally lived in crowded slum
areas, often on land or in buildings without permission of the owner; hence, they were
referred to as squatters. These settlements often lacked basic necessities such as running
water, sewerage, and electricity.
❖ In the World Bank's World Development Report, 1990, thePhilippines was ranked at the
lower end of the grouping of lower middle-income economies.
❖ In 1988 the most affluent 20 percent of families in the Philippines received more than 50
percent of total personal income, with most going to the top 10 percent. Below the richest
10 percent of the population, the share accruing to each decile diminished rather
gradually.
❖ A 1988 World Bank poverty report suggested that there had been a small shift toward a
more equal distribution of income since 1961. The beneficiaries appear to have been
middle-income earners, however, rather than the poor.

Causes of Poverty:
➢ Significant findings in the World Bank report showed that the country's high population
growth rate was a major cause of the widespread poverty, particularly in the rural areas.
Implementation of a government-sponsored family-planning program,however, was
thwarted by stiff opposition from the Roman Catholic Church.
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➢ Another fundamental cause of Philippine Underdevelopment Is The Widespread
Injustice, graft and corruption, and mismanagement of resources in the early 1990s.
➢ There are also issues with the concentration of control of economic resources and the
structure of the economy. Land ownership was highly unequal, but land reform initiatives
had made little progress.
➢ Control of wealth was concentrated in a particular class. Considerable portions of both
industry and finance were highly monopolized. Access to finance was severely limited to
those who already possessed resources. The most profitable investment opportunities
were often in areas in which tariff or other forms of government protection ensured high
profits but did not necessarily result in rapidly expanding employment opportunities.

B. Philippines Current Poverty Profile

According to the data from the 2018 Family Income and Expenditure Survey
(FEIS) released by the Philippine Statistics Authority, the poverty incidence among the
population, or the proportion of poor Filipinos whose per capita is insufficient to meet
their basic food and non-food needs, is now estimated at 16.7 percent. This translates to
about 17.7 million Filipinos living in poverty in 2018. On the other hand,subsistence
incidence remains at 5.2 percent.
The following are the other significant poverty themes as reported in the 2018
FEIS and APIS:
● Farmers, fisherfolks, individuals residing in rural areas, and children
posted the highest poverty incidence among the basic sectors.
● Education dimension had the largest share or contribution to over-all
deprivation (MPI) at 36.5percent and 36.9 percent in 2016 and 2017,
respectively. These mean that 6 out of 10 families in 2016 and 5 out of 10
families in 2017 were deprived of basic education.
● In 2018, 28 out of 1,000 babies die before they reach their 5birthday.th
● Work poverty is prevalent. According to a World Bank report, it is caused
by low labor productivity which reflects low education and skills of the
workforce. On the other hand, it is caused by lack of productive job
opportunities. People are poor in the Philippines because they earn little,
not because they do not work.
● The Rural Poverty Portal reports that half of the poor in the Philippines
live in rural areas. Thepoorest of the poor are the indigenous, landless
laborers, fishermen, small farmers, mountain folk and women.
Deforestation, depleted fisheries, and unproductive farmland are major
problems for these people. As a result, there is a never-ending cycle of
poverty that leads to parents having to give up their children in hopes they
will have a better life somewhere else.
Causes of Poverty:
❖ Inequality & Marginalization - for a population to escape poverty, all groups must be
involved in the decision-making process.
❖ Conflict - is one of the most common forms of risk driving poverty today. Violence can
grind society to a halt.
❖ Hunger, malnutrition, and stunting
❖ Poor healthcare systems-especially for mothers and children
❖ Little or no access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene.
❖ Climate Change-world bank estimates that climate change has the power to push more
than 100 million people into poverty over the next year.
❖ Lack of education
❖ Poor public works and infrastructure
❖ Lack of government support/ ineffective government
❖ Lack of jobs or livelihoods
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❖ Lack of reserves -people living in extreme poverty usually don't have these means
available. This means that, when a risk turns into a disaster, they turn to negative coping
mechanisms,including pulling children out of school to work, and selling off assets to
buy food. Forcommunities constantly facing climate extremes or prolonged conflict, the
repeated shocks cansend a family reeling into extreme poverty and prevent them from
ever recovering.

History of Poverty and Development Efforts in the Philippines

What is a Social Movement?

Social movements are broad alliances of people who are connected through their shared
interest in social change.
Social movements are large, often informal groupings of people who come together
against power holders around a common cause, in response to situations of perceived
inequality,oppression and/or unmet social,political,economic, or cultural demands.
Social movements can advocate for a particular social change, but they can also organize
to oppose a social change that is being advocated by another entity. These movements do
not have to be formally organized to be considered social movements.
A major difference between social movements and special-interest groups lies in the
nature of their actions. Special-interest groups normally work within the system via
conventional political activities such as lobbying and election campaigning. In contrast,
social movements often work outside the system by engaging in various kinds of protest.
Social actors coordinate their actions in sustained sequences of opposition and
contestation intended to transform existing power structures and dynamics.
Social movements are often one of the few (peaceful) options that people, who lack
regular access to institutions or who act in the name of new or unaccepted claims, possess
to challenge established rules of the game-and this is what gives them their contentious
character (Tarrow,1994)

Types of Social Movements:

Sociologists identify several types of social movements according to the nature and
extent of the changes they seek.

1. Reform Movement-which seeks changes in some aspect of a nation's political, economic,

or social systems. It does not try to overthrow the existing government but rather works
to improve conditions within the existing regime.
2. Revolutionary Movement- goes one large step further than a reform movement in seeking
to overthrow the existing government and to bring about a new one and even a new way
of life.Reform and revolutionary movements are often referred to as political movements
because the changes they seek are political in nature.
3. Reactionary Movement- so named because it tries to block social change or to reverse
social changes that have already been achieved.
4. Self-help movements- involve people trying to improve aspects of their personal
lives.The goal of a self-help movement is to help people improve their personal
lives.Examples of self-help groups include Alcoholics Anonymous and Weight Watchers.
5. Religious Movements- aim to reinforce religious beliefs among their members and to
convert other people to these beliefs. Early Christianity was certainly a momentous
religious movement,and other groups that are part of a more general religious movement
today include the various religious cults. Sometimes self-help and religious movements
are difficult to distinguish from each other because some self-help groups emphasize
religious faith as a vehicle for achieving personal transformation.

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Origin of Social Movements:
Over the years social scientists have tried to explain why some individuals are
more likely than others to join social movements. Their explanations center on several
factors.
1. Micro Factors: Emphasis on Individual
Question of Irrationality-according to French intellectual Gustave LeBon
(1841-1931), Social movement involvement was a product of irrational impulses.
LeBon in particular blamed crowds for turning normally rational individuals into
irrational and emotional actors who are virtually hypnotized by the crowd's
mind-set.
This, however, was downplayed in a more recent by Turner (1957).
According to them,people taking part in social movements are indeed acting
rationally and instrumentally, notjust expressively. Although they have emotions,
that does not mean their behavior is anyless rational or political.
➔ Relative Deprivation - feeling by individuals that they are deprived
relative to some other group or to some ideal state they have not
reached.
➔ Social Attachments - Kornhauser (1959) argued that individuals
who are loners become involved in social movements to provide
them the friendships and social bonding they otherwise lack.
2. Macro Factors: Emphasis on Social Structure
Below are some structural theories that try to explain the emergence of
social movements.
➔ Smelser's Structural-Strain Theory - social movements and other
collective behavior occurs when strains or problems in society
exist that cause people to be angry and frustrated.
➔ Resource Mobilization Theory - it assumes that social movement
activity is a rational response to unsatisfactory conditions in
society. Because these conditions always exist, so does discontent
with them. What is crucial are the efforts by social movement
leaders to mobilize the resources—most notably, time, money, and
energy—of the population and to direct them into effective
political action.

Stages of Social Movements:

Blumer (1969) laid down the several stages social movements go through:

Stage 1 Emergence - social movements begin due to one or more reasons.

Stage 2 Coalescence - a movement and its leaders must decide how they will recruit new
members and they must determine the strategies they will use to achieve their goals. They also
may use the news media to win favorable publicity and to convince the public of the justness of
their cause.
Stage 3 Bureaucratization - as a movement grows, it often tends to become bureaucratized, as
paid leaders and a paid staff replace the volunteers that began the movement. It also means that
clear lines of authority develop, as they do in any bureaucracy.
Stage 4 Decline - social movements eventually decline for one or more of many
reasons.Sometimes they achieve their goals and naturally cease because there is no more reason
to continue. More often, however, they decline because they fail due to lack of money, loss of
enthusiasm among a movement's members, factionalism.Movements also may decline because
of government repression.

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Impacts of Social Movements:

★ Pressure to targets of protest-with the aid of news media coverage, these events often
throw much attention on the problem or grievance at the center of the protest and bring
pressure to bear on the government agencies, corporations, or other targets of the protest.
★ Involvement in movements is thought to influence participants' later beliefs and career
choices.

History of Poverty and Development Efforts in the Philippines

A. Ambisyon Natin 2040 The Ambisyon Natin 2040

Represents the collective long-term vision and aspirations of the Filipino people
for themselves and for the country in the next25 years. It describes the kind of life that
people want to live, and how the country will be by 2040. As such, it is an anchor for
development planning across at least four administrations.TheAmbisyon Natin2040 is the
result of a long-term visioning process that began in 2015. More than 300 citizens
participated in focus group discussions and close to 10,000 answered the national survey.
Technical studies were prepared to identify strategic options for realizing the vision
articulated by citizens.
The exercise benefited from the guidance of an Advisory Committee Composed
of government, private sector, academe, and civil society. All sectors of society, whether
public or private, should direct their efforts towards creating opportunities for Filipinos to
enjoy a matatag, maginhawa at panatag na buhay. Government, in particular, must use its
tools of fiscal, monetary, and regulatory policies to steer the development path towards
enabling Filipinos to attain their AmBisyon.

B. Marcos Jr. administration’s 8-Point Socioeconomic Agenda

This aims to address the immediate concerns of the country, such as inflation, by
protecting the purchasing power of families and consumers. The recently-approved
national budget also targets to mitigate the socioeconomic scarring brought by the
COVID-19 pandemic.

The indicative budgetary allocations under each of the 8-Point Socioeconomic

Agenda are as follows:

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Food Security

To ensure food security, the agriculture sector shall be supported with a P174.0 billion
budget allocation. The highest share will be given to the Department of Agriculture (DA),
which will receive P156.6 billion to support its banner programs such as the National
Rice, Corn, Livestock and Fisheries Programs.

Improved Transportation

To reduce transport and logistics cost, P976.5 billion shall be allocated to infrastructure
development through the “Build, Better, More” Program, with the Department of Public
Works and Highways (DPWH) and Department of Transportation (DOTr) receiving
P894.2 billion and P82.3 billion, respectively.

Affordable and Clean Energy

To reduce energy cost to families, P10.2 billion shall be invested in renewable energy and
alternative fuels. This will particularly support the Department of Energy’s (DOE)
commitment to ensure a reliable and secure mix of energy resources through its various
programs such as the Renewable Energy Development Program, Energy Efficiency and
Conservation Program, and the Alternative Fuels and Technologies Program.

Health Care

To tackle health, a total of P342.4 billion shall be given to advance medical facilities and
human capital. In particular, the Department of Health (DOH), including the Philippine
Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC), is provided with P314.6 billion for the provision of
access to healthcare services through the construction, rehabilitation and upgrading of
health facilities, and purchase of medical equipment, as well as the provision for the
National Health Insurance Program for social health protection.

Education

In the education sector, P778.6 billion shall be devoted to ensure the safe reopening of
schools. This covers the provision for the Department of Education (DepEd) and the
Commission on Higher Education (CHED) with P720.4 billion and P31.7 billion,
respectively. Meanwhile, the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority
(TESDA) is provided with P16.2 billion to support its technical-vocational education and
training program.

Social Services

To strengthen social protection, social welfare programs are allocated with P239.1 billion.
This includes the allocation for the Department of Social Welfare and Development
(DSWD) of around P196.7 billion which will be used to implement its various social
assistance programs including the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), Social
Pension for Indigent Senior Citizens, and Protective Services for Individuals and Families
in Difficult Circumstances, among others.

Sound Fiscal Management

To ensure the practice of sound fiscal management, a total of P21.6 billion shall be
allocated. Specifically, the country’s revenue collecting agencies namely, the Bureau of
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Internal Revenue (BIR) and the Bureau of Customs (BOC), shall be given budgetary
allocations amounting to P13.1 billion and P5.2 billion, respectively, to support the
improvement of the country’s revenue collection, through digitalization initiatives.
Meanwhile, the DBM shall be allocated with P1.7 billion to champion the prudent and
accountable use of public funds.

Bureaucratic Efficiency

Lastly, to enhance bureaucratic efficiency, P15.6 billion shall be devoted towards efforts
to digitalize government process and operations. This will facilitate the transformation
and digitalization of the whole-of-government, with the vision of streamlining the
bureaucracy – in line with the Marcos Jr. Administration’s thrust for a lean, efficient, and
responsive government workforce.

C. Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028

The PDP 2023-2028 is a plan for deep economic and social transformation to
reinvigorate job creation and accelerate poverty reduction by steering the economy back
on a high-growth path. This growth must be inclusive, building an environment that
provides equal opportunities to all Filipinos, and equipping them with skills to participate
fully in an innovative and globally competitive economy.

https://pdp.neda.gov.ph/philippine-development-plan-2023-2028/#

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