ANGELO LEVARDO LOYOLA SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL

HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter reviews the related literature which supports and gives

credence to the details of this research. The researchers anchored this

comprehensive study to different viewpoints and perspectives to present a

thorough treatment of the problem. Concepts, findings, theories and notions,

from scholarly researches and articles related to the participants’ lived

experiences being poverty in the midst of pandemic presented to provide an

extensive background of the study and justify the researchers’ objectives in

undertaking it. This also provides a synthesis of related literature which later

on may be confirmed, negated, or improved by the new knowledge that this

study provided. This study will attempt to address this gap by focusing on the

researchers seeking to extend knowledge in the experiences by providing an in-

depth understanding on how poverty families cope with poverty in the midst of

pandemic. This paper can explain that as poverty has gotten more frequent

since the pandemic, it has become more difficult to find each other and there

has been less work. Before the pandemic, there were daily food shortages, but

once the pandemic occurred, it was banned to visit many of the closed

businesses because COVID-19 may spread too rapidly.

 This theory of poverty asserts that the individual is responsible for their

own poverty situation. Gans, (1995) and cited by Sameti et al (2012) believe

that the individual factors that cause or fuel poverty include individual

attitude, human capital, and welfare participation. Bradshaw (2006) blame the

poor for creating their own problems arguing that with hard work and better

choices the poor could have avoided and solved their problems. He further

explained that poverty is caused by lack of genetic qualities such as

intelligence that are not so easily reversed. This theory has got its root in

American values and belief in the free market system, a system thought to

provide opportunity for all. Rank (2004) and cited by Sameti et, al. (2012)

asserted that the belief in individualism places much emphasis on individual

hard work, and responsibility to acquire basic needs including food, shelter

and health care services. Further, the theory based on the premise of American

values and belief emphasises that talent, virtue and hard work can lead to

success and that individual poverty is an individual failing due to lack of

motivation. The individual theory of poverty is criticised on the grounds that

with the emergence of the concept of inherited intelligence in the nineteenth

century, the eugenics movement went on to rationalise poverty and even

sterilised those who appear to have limited abilities (Bradshaw, 2006).

Secondly, Rainwater, (1970) and cited by Bradshaw (2006) beliefs that the poor

are afflicted by the mark of Cain; they are meant to suffer, indeed must suffer

because of their moral failings.

Overcrowded communities such as poverty and informal settlements contribute

to the spread of the virus. Life situations in the Philippines which cater billions

of people around the world are poor, overpopulated and are lacking in terms of

access to public services. Following simple mandatory safety protocols such as

social distancing and hand washing are considered expensive. The challenges

brought by the environment in impoverished areas are not new, however, the

virus calls for immediate solutions (The World Bank, 2020). Hence, the threat

of increased possibility of being infected in the poor people and unemployment

which results in anxiety, as stated from the above-mentioned sources,

supports the fact that COVID-19 is indeed a stressor to the poor.

The government of the Philippines introduced a social amelioration program

during the quarantine to address how covid-19 affected poverty in the

Philippines. The positive effect of covid 19 on poverty is having possible

financial support which the government provides in the Philippines to reduc

poverty. The positive effect of covid 19 is having a project improvement. The

economy's growth could still improve and poverty could be reduced in the

coming years as long as there is a rebound in consumption, a significant push

in public investment, and great strides in global growth recovery.( Alex

pinamang ,May 2021)

Poverty is the state of not having enough money or material possessions to

live comfortably. Poverty is defined as a state of being unable to meet one's

basic necessities. In this context, determining what constitutes basic

necessities is necessary before identifying poor people. These can be defined as

"those necessary for survival" or "those reflecting the prevailing standard of

living in the community." The first criterion would apply only to people on the

verge of starvation or death from exposure; the second would apply to people

whose nutrition, housing, and clothing, while adequate for survival, fall short

of those of the general population. The issue of defining is complex.

Coronavirus has turned the existence of many families with children upended.

A lot of parents have lost jobs or been furloughed, and many schools and

childcare facilities have been shut down, abandoning those still in work

fronting the impractical task of stabilizing work with childcare and

homeschooling. All these challenges are particularly severe for low-income

families (Hannah More-Saint Joseph Calasanz-Johnn Friedrish,December

2020) While the poor face future prospects that are eventually confined to

poverty, the non -poor are also vulnerable to poverty. The weakness was

specifically identified in the effect of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) which is

likely to result in a decrease in incomes due to the economic downturn. In

estimating the impact of COVID-19 on poverty, and income distribution, data

are not available at this time. The study uses simulation scenarios and

assumptions. The aggravation of the poverty situation is managed to only half

a million will fall into poverty, that is, four million less than the expected

number of Filipinos falling into poverty. Under a prolonged recovery, we

expect a longer transition period. The study also discusses various policy and

data issues, including the current use of spending income as a measure of

poverty, as well as the method of setting the poverty line due to changes in

income. Transactional Theory of Stress and Coping for poverty Families

during Pandemic The transactional model of stress and coping advanced by

Lazarus and Folkman (1987) defined coping as a phenomenon that entails each

cognitive and behavioural responses that people use in an attempt to control

inner and/or outside stressors looked as if it would exceed their private

resources (Gonzales, 2019). It is safe to say that coping with stressful and

anxiety-provoking situations is first on the list of a family that dwells in the

slums during a pandemic. However, it will not come as easily as those who do

not experience a poor-stricken community. A major source of stress itself is the

health threat posed by the spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome

Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that triggers COVID-19, and concerns

about its effects on families, friends, and colleagues (Nelson, 2020). One of the

main distinctions between proactive coping and anticipatory coping is this

signal property of proactive coping, the possibility of changing or altering one's

outcomes in potentially difficult situations (Aspinwall 1997). Aspinwall’s

proactive coping strategy can be correlated with slum dweller’s day-to-day

experience from the beginning of the pandemic. In addition, the social

consequences of lockdown strategies, such as food and household goods

supply issues and social isolation, are also significant stressors (Brooks, 2020).

Poverty in Local and Global Perspective Poverty is a condition in which human

beings or communities lack financial resources and essentials for normal

living. Deprivation implies that the earnings from the occupation is low in
which the needs of someone cannot be met. Poverty affected people and their

families might go without standard houses, freshwater, food, and treatment.

Each nation may have a threshold of its own that specifies how many people

live in poverty (Chen, 2020). Tens of thousands of poor people around the

world die from starvation and malnutrition per annum. The ratio of infant

deaths is higher while life expectancy is lower among the poorest sectors.

Poverty also multiplies the number of crimes, a number of poor are not

criminals and a lot of criminals are not poor; However, people from poverty-

dominated environments are likely to commit crimes and be subjected to

punishments. Other societal problems including mental illness, alcoholism,

and drug addiction are common in this environment, relatively because they

are the root, as well as consequences of poverty. Lastly, poverty is passed from

one generation to another, those born from poor families also become poor

because of the lack of opportunities (Funk & Wagnalls New World

Encyclopedia, 2020). Poverty amidst COVID-19 Pandemic A pandemic is a

disease outbreak similar to an epidemic but it spreads across the world instead

of spreading only in a particular region. It affects a large number of people and

takes a massive amount of lives, this lasts for several months or even years.

Humanities have already experienced a lot of pandemics throughout history

and the deadliest was the spanish flu of 1918 (Live Science, 2020). Pandemics

such as COVID-19 have a huge impact on people's everyday lives. Because of

this, the global economy is slowing down. Millions of people have been affected

by this outbreak and many of them are at risk of extreme poverty due to
unemployment caused by Covid-19 pandemic especially to those people who

live in the slums (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2020).

Restraining the transmission of the COVID-19 disease, the administrations

have given their advice that large gatherings and using public transportation

must be avoided and “community quarantine” protocols must be observed.

While all of these are sound reminders, there is also another problem, the poor

will not be able to manage to follow the said protocols. A lot of jobs have no

paid sick leaves. Irregular workers, as well as those who are paid per output

are particularly vulnerable. Working from home is not a choice for every

worker, especially in the case of jeepney drivers and service employees (Adle,

2020). Overcrowded communities such as poverty and informal settlements

contribute to the spread of the virus. Life situations in the Philippines which

cater billions of people around the world are poor, overpopulated and are

lacking in terms of access to public services. Following simple mandatory

safety protocols such as social distancing and hand washing are considered

expensive. The challenges brought by the environment in impoverished areas

are not new, however, the virus calls for immediate solutions (The World Bank,

2020). Hence, the threat of increased possibility of being infected in the poor

people and unemployment which results in anxiety, as stated from the above-

mentioned sources, supports the fact that COVID-19 is indeed a stressor to the

poor.
 According to the analysis of related literature and studies previously

presented in this chapter, poverty has been the subject of some research for

decades, with the majority of it focusing on the causes and struggles of poor

families. However, there is a lack of studies showing how the COVID-19

pandemic added more burden to the lives of the poor and how people who

suffer cope with stressors brought on by the pandemic. This study will attempt

to close this gap by concentrating on academics who want to expand

knowledge of experiences by offering a detailed understanding of how poor

families deal with poverty in the face of a pandemic.

References

(Alex Addae Korankye|2019 The theory of individuals deficiencies)

https://datalab.usaspending.gov/dts/?

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(Hannah More-Saint, Joseph Calasanz-Johnn, Friedrish Oberlin-St|December

2020 Poverty )

https://www.britannica.com/topic/poverty 

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https://cpag.org.uk/sites/default/files/files/policypost/Poverty-in-the-

pandemic.pdf 
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economi

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