CURRENT

POVERTY
SITUATION IN
THE PHILIPPINES
 POVERTY IS A STATE OR CONDITION IN WHICH A PERSON OR
01 COMMUNITY LACKS THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES AND

WHAT IS ESSENTIALS FOR A MINIMUM STANDARD OF LIVING.

POVERTY? POVERTY-STRICKEN PEOPLE AND FAMILIES MIGHT GO

02 WITHOUT PROPER HOUSING, CLEAN WATER, HEALTHY
FOOD, AND MEDICAL ATTENTION.

EACH NATION MAY HAVE ITS OWN CRITERIA FOR

03 DETERMINING HOW MANY OF ITS PEOPLE ARE
LIVING IN POVERTY.
 AS DEFINED IN PHILIPPINE LAW
Republic Act 8425 of 1997 or The Social Reform and Poverty Alleviation Act,
defines poor as “Individuals and families whose income fall below the poverty
threshold as defined by National Economic Development Authority or NEDA
and/or cannot afford in a sustained manner to provide their minimum basic
needs for food, health, education, housing and other essential amenities of life."
HOW POVERTY IS
CLASSIFFIED
INCOME CLASSIFICATION

Primarily, the overall household

income is a determinant of an
individual’s socioeconomic standing,
especially in the Philippines where this
classification is mostly associated with
finances. According to the data from
the Philippine Institute for
Development Studies (PIDS), the
income classes for an average
household of five are as follows:
HOW POVERTY IS
CLASSIFFIED
HOUSEHOLD EXPENSE

The family spending – the ratio of overall

household expenses to monthly income – is
another indication that would weigh in as a
driver of socio-economic classification.
THE POOR ARE CHARACTERIZED BY THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERISTICS: THE MAJORITY RESIDE IN
RURAL AREAS AND WORK IN AGRICULTURE, PRIMARILY AS FARMERS AND FISHERMEN. THEY ARE
FOUND IN SLUMS AND THE INFORMAL SECTOR IN URBAN AREAS SUCH AS METRO MANILA. THEY
COME FROM BIG FAMILIES (SIX MEMBERS OR MORE). THE HEAD OF HOUSEHOLD IN TWO-THIRDS OF
POOR FAMILIES HAS JUST AN ELEMENTARY EDUCATION OR LESS. THEY HAVE NO OR LIMITED
ASSETS, AS WELL AS LIMITED ACCESS TO CREDIT.

FARMERS FISHERMEN URBAN POOR

 PSA DATA
AS OF FIRST SEMESTER OF 2021

• The First Semester 2021 poverty incidence among population, or the

proportion of poor Filipinos whose per capita income is not sufficient to
meet their basic food and non-food needs, was estimated at 23.7 percent.

• This translates to 26.14 million Filipinos who lived below the poverty
threshold estimated at PhP 12,082, on the average, for a family of five per
month in the first semester of 2021.

• On the other hand, subsistence incidence among Filipinos, or the

proportion of Filipinos whose income is not enough to meet even the
basic food needs, was registered at 9.9 percent or about 10.94 million
Filipinos in the first semester of 2021.

• On the average, the monthly food threshold for a family of five for the
same period was estimated at PhP 8,393.
• 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 basic 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.
MAIN CAUSES OF POVERTY (FROM POVERTY IN THE PHILIPPINES:
CAUSES, CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES, A RESEARCH STUDY BY
ADB WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN 2009):
• low to moderate economic growth for the past 40 years;
• low growth elasticity of poverty reduction;
• weakness in employment generation and the quality of jobs generated;
• failure to fully develop the agriculture sector;
• high inflation during crisis periods;
• high levels of population growth; the current population of the Philippines is 112,105,971
as of Monday, March 28, 2022, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United
Nations data.
• high and persistent levels of inequality (incomes and assets), which dampen the positive
impacts of economic expansion; and
• recurrent shocks and exposure to risks such as economic crisis, conflicts, natural
disasters, and "environmental poverty."
KEY FINDINGS (FROM POVERTY IN THE PHILIPPINES: CAUSES, CONSTRAINTS
AND OPPORTUNITIES, A RESEARCH STUDY BY ADB WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN
2009)

• Economic growth did not translate into poverty reduction in recent years;
• Poverty levels vary greatly by regions;
• Poverty remains a mainly rural phenomenon though urban poverty is on the rise;
• Poverty levels are strongly linked to educational attainment;
• The poor have large families, with six or more members;
• Many Filipino households remain vulnerable to shocks and risks;
• Governance and institutional constraints remain in the poverty response;
• There is weak local government capacity for implementing poverty reduction programs;
• Deficient targeting in various poverty programs;
• Multidimensional responses to poverty reduction are needed; and
• Further research on chronic poverty is needed.
HOW POVERTY IMPACTS ECONOMIC GROWTH (FROM POVERTY IN
THE PHILIPPINES: CAUSES, CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES, A
RESEARCH STUDY BY ADB WHICH WAS PUBLISHED IN 2009)

• Investment capacity constraints (lack of access to credit aggravated by the

underdevelopment of the financial markets);

• human capital constraints (lack of education, health care, and nutrition);

• regular doses of risks and shocks, causing poverty traps; and

• conflicts and disorder resulting from inequality, which hamper investments and
destroy social capital.
 COMBATING POVERTY IN THE
PHILIPPINES

GREATER ACCESS BUILD, BUILD,

TO EDUCATION FAMILY AID BUILD

GREATER ACCESS ECONOMIC

TO HEALTHCARE IMPROVEMENT
 THE LIFE OF ALL FILIPINOS IN 2040:
EVERYONE’S GOAL
MATATAG, MAGINHAWA AT PANATAG NA BUHAY

BY 2040, FILIPINOS ENJOY A STRONGLY ROOTED, COMFORTABLE, AND

SECURE LIFE.

FILIPINOS ARE FILIPINOS ARE FILIPINOS ARE

STRONGLY ROOTED:
MATATAG
• Family is together
• Time with friends
• Work-life balance
• Volunteering
COMFORTABLE:
MAGINHAWA
• Free from hunger and poverty
• Secure home ownership
• Good transport facilities
• Travel and vacation
SECURE: PANATAG
• Enough resources for day-to-day
needs, unexpected expenses and
savings
• Peace and security
• Long and healthy life
• Comfortable retirement