Number of poor in CAR down by 3.1%

The country’s latest official poverty statistics reveal that poverty incidence among the Cordilleran was estimated at 19.7 percent. This was based on the income data from the first and second visits of the Family Income and Expenditures Survey (FIES) conducted in July 2015 and January 2016 by the Philippine Statistics Authority-CAR. The result showed a decrease of 3.1 percent from the poverty incidence of 22.8 percent recorded in 2012. The 2015 national poverty incidence is 21.6 percent, and is higher compared to the region. However, this decreased from the recorded 25.2 percent in 2012.

On the other hand, subsistence incidence or the proportion of Cordillerans whose incomes fall below the food threshold was estimated at 7.0 percent in 2015; while the subsistence incidence in CAR was at 10.0 percent in 2012. The national subsistence incidences were also higher in 2015 at 8.1 percent and in 2012 at 10.4 percent. Subsistence incidence is also referred to as the proportion of population in extreme or subsistence poverty.

Food threshold is the minimum income required to meet basic food needs and satisfy the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) to ensure that one remains economically and socially productive. It is used to measure extreme or subsistence poverty. Poverty threshold or poverty line is a similar concept expanded to include basic non-food needs such as clothing, housing, transportation, health and education expenses. In 2015, a family of five in CAR needed at least PhP 6,364, on average, every month to meet in the family's basic food needs and at least Php 9,071, on average, every month to meet both basic food and non-food needs. These amount represent the monthly food threshold and monthly poverty threshold, respectively. They indicate increases of about 13 percent in food threshold and 12 percent in poverty threshold from 2012 to 2015. For the Philippines, a family of five needed at least PhP 6,329 monthly, on average, to meet the family’s basic food needs and the least PhP 9,064 monthly, on average, to meet both food and non-food needs.

Poverty among Cordilleran families was estimated at 14.9 percent in 2015 from 17.5 percent in 2012. Nationwide, the poverty incidence among Filipino families was estimated at 16.5 percent in 2015 while it was recorded at 19.7 percent in 2012.  The subsistence incidence among Cordilleran families, or the proportion of Cordilleran families in extreme poverty, was estimated at 4.8 percent in 2015. In the same period in 2012, the proportion of families in extreme poverty was recorded at 7.1 percent. National subsistence incidence among families was estimated at 5.7 percent in 2015, which was lower than the 2012 estimate of 7.5 percent.

The income gap measures the average income required by the poor in order to get out of poverty, expressed relative to the poverty threshold. The poverty gap refers to the income shortfall (expressed in proportion to the poverty threshold) of families with income below the poverty threshold, divided by the total number of families. The severity of poverty is the total of squared income shortfall (expressed in proportion to the poverty threshold) of families with income below the poverty threshold, divided by the total number of families. This is a poverty measure that is sensitive to income distribution among the poor.

The average incomes of poor families in CAR in 2015 were short by 22.8 percent of the poverty threshold. This means that on average, an additional monthly income of PhP 2,068 is needed by a poor family with five members in order to move out of poverty in 2015. Nationwide, incomes of poor Filipino families were short by 24.6 percent of the poverty threshold. This translates to an average additional monthly income of PhP 2,230 to stay out of poverty in 2015. - AFRB