What is Poverty?

Poverty - is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food,
clothing and shelter.  However, poverty is more, much more than just not having
enough money. It is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the
financial resources and essentials for a minimum standard of living. Poverty means that
the income level from employment is so low that basic human needs can't be met. And
it’s not just caused by individual circumstances but by major inequalities built into the
structure of Australian society. Some of the main causes of this inequality and poverty
are access to work and income, education, housing, health and services.
Poverty means not having enough money for basic needs such as food, drinking water,
shelter, or toiletries. Many people in different countries live in poverty, especially in
developing areas of West and Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, Caribbean and some
parts of Asia. There are different ways to measure poverty.
The World Bank Organization describes poverty in this way:
“Poverty is hunger. Poverty is lack of shelter. Poverty is being sick and not being
able to see a doctor. Poverty is not having access to school and not knowing how to
read. Poverty is not having a job, is fear for the future, living one day at a time.
Poverty has many faces, changing from place to place and across time, and has
been described in many ways.  Most often, poverty is a situation people want to
escape. So, poverty is a call to action -- for the poor and the wealthy alike -- a call
to change the world so that many more may have enough to eat, adequate shelter,
access to education and health, protection from violence, and a voice in what
happens in their communities.”
 In addition to a lack of money, poverty is about not being able to participate in
recreational activities; not being able to send children on a day trip with their
schoolmates or to a birthday party; not being able to pay for medications for an
illness.  These are all costs of being poor. Those people who are barely able to
pay for food and shelter simply can’t consider these other expenses.  When
people are excluded within a society, when they are not well educated and when
they have a higher incidence of illness, there are negative consequences for
society.  We all pay the price for poverty.  The increased cost on the health
system, the justice system and other systems that provide supports to those
living in poverty has an impact on our economy.
 Poverty in The Philippines

 The Philippines has a fairly high poverty rate with more than 16% of the population living below
the poverty line. Because of the many people reliant on agriculture for an income and inequality
in wealth distribution, about 17.6 million Filipinos struggle to afford necessities. From 2015 to
2020, the rate of poverty declined from 21.6% to 16.6%. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte
aims to reduce the rate of poverty to 14% by 2022. Through its strategy, AmBisyon 2040, the
Philippine government plans to eradicate extreme poverty by 2040. Furthermore, the government
has implemented various programs and reforms to reduce poverty by targeting education,
healthcare and the overall economy. Here are five ways the program is combating poverty in the
Philippines.
Combating Poverty in the Philippines

 Greater Access to Education: A factor of systemic poverty is a lack of access to education in

impoverished areas. People gain basic skills and increased job opportunities through education,
which can help to combat poverty in the Philippines. Therefore, the Philippines signed
the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act in 2017 to encourage more people to
enroll in higher education and to address the issue of education inequality. The government
subsidizes the cost of tuition for State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) students as well as other
expenses such as school supplies. Private institutions also have access to a tuition subsidy. The
Act aims to decrease the number of dropouts in higher education and promote the idea that higher
education is available to all.
 Greater Access to Healthcare: To improve the healthcare system, President Duterte
signed the Universal Healthcare Act in February 2019. The UHC Act provides access to
the full spectrum of healthcare by enrolling citizens in the National Insurance Program
and granting health coverage to all. While healthcare is not completely free, those in
poverty will have more access to health services. To ensure the effectiveness of
healthcare, the Act will form the Health Technology and Assessment Council (HTAC).
The Council will consist of health experts who will assess health developments, such as
technology, vaccines and other advancements. Additionally, the Philippines will allocate
more funds to PhilHealth, which will improve the quality of service and lower the cost of
medicine.
 Family Aid: To further efforts to support citizens, the government implemented the Pantawid
Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in 2007. The 4Ps is a conditional cash transfer program for
impoverished households. The program gives households grants so long as they meet certain
requirements, including keeping the children in school, having regular health check-ups and
having parents or guardians attend Family Development Sessions. The 4Ps program benefits
about 20 million Filipinos, 9 million of whom are children. Therefore, the program reaches about
20% of the population with the goal of greater poverty reduction.
 Economic Improvement: With the goal of reducing poverty by strengthening
economics, President Duterte signed the Rice Tariffication Law in February 2019,
amending the Agricultural Tariffication Act of 1996. The Law places a 35% tariff on
imported rice with the goal of prioritizing local rice production for the population by
stabilizing the supply. The tariff also aims to benefit local farmers by creating a more
efficient and competitive agricultural system.
 Build, Build, Build: Additionally, the Duterte administration created the “Build, Build,
Build” infrastructure plan in 2017. The initial goal of the program was to complete 75
projects, but Duterte revised the plan to instead target finishing 100 projects. Some
projects include new public transportation and airport renovations. The government has
put about 34% of the projects into action and is expecting to complete 56% by 2022. By
2019, the government had completed two of the initial 75 projects. With support from
loans, the Philippines will rely on Build, Build, Build as a strategy to aid the country in
recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The government’s hope is that combatting the
effects of the pandemic by improving the country’s infrastructure will stimulate the
economy and create more jobs. However, the program has received criticism due to its
slow execution as a result of underspending.
Unfortunately, poverty is expected to increase in the Philippines because of the
coronavirus crisis. This will lead to a decrease in consumption growth and further
income losses. Therefore, greater efforts are necessary to combat poverty in the
Philippines amid the pandemic, which has hit the impoverished the hardest.