The Philippine Statistics Authority(PSA) released its latest report on the country's official poverty statistics for the full year of 2015. The PSA report provides the estimates of poverty incidence using income data from the first and second visits of the Family Income and Expenditures Survey(FIES) conducted in July 2015 and January 2016, respectively.
Poverty incidence among Cordillerans in 2015 was estimated at 19.7 percent. During the same period in 2012, poverty incidence among Cordillerans was recorded at 22.8 percent.
The Philippine's poverty incidence is higher compared to the Cordillera Administrative Region(CAR) with 21.6 percent in 2015. However, the Philippine's poverty incidence decreased from the recorded 25.2 percent in 2012
On the other hand, subsistence incidence among Cordillerans, or the proportion of Cordillerans whose incomes fall below the food threshold, was estimated at 7.0 percent in 2015. In 2012, the subsistence incidence among Cordillerans is at 10.0 percent. 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 and Poverty Thresholds
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 atleast PhP 6,364, on average, every month to meet in the family's basic food needs and atleast 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 families
PSA also releases statistics on poverty among families – a crucial social indicator that guides policy makers in their efforts to alleviate poverty.
The poverty incidence among Cordilleran families based on the first and second visits of the 2015 FIES was estimated at 14.9 percent in 2015. In 2012, the poverty incidence among Cordilleran families was estimated at 17.5 percent.
Nationwide, the poverty incidence among Filipino families was estimated at 16.5 percent in 2015. In 2012, the poverty incidence among Filipino families was recorded at 19.7 percent.
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.
In addition to the threshold and incidences, the PSA also releases other poverty-related statisics in the report such as the income gap, poverty gap and severity of poverty. 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.
In 2015, on avarage, incomes of poor families in CAR 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.
