▶ The poverty threshold of the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) for the first semester of 2015 was estimated at PhP 11,017 per capita. Meaning, an individual needed a minimum monthly average income of PhP 1,836 to meet both basic food and non-food needs. This translates to a minimum of PhP9,181 minimum monthly take home income for a family of five to be considered not poor

▶ Mt. Province had the highest poverty threshold among the provinces in CAR with PhP 11,809 in the first semester of 2015. This was attributed to the higher prices of goods and services in the province compared to other areas in the region. This was an increase of 11.7 percent from the first semester of 2012.

▶ The province of Benguet recorded the next highest threshold with PhP 11,374. However, the province recorded the biggest incline in poverty threshold with an increase of 20.9 percent from the first semester 2012 estimate of PhP 9,407.

▶ Kalinga, Apayao and Abra had the lowest poverty thresholds with PhP 10,215, PhP 10,469 and PhP 10,703, respectively.

▶ The Poverty Threshold refers to the minimum income required for a family or individual to meet the basic food and non-food needs (clothing, housing,transportation, health and education expenses). If the income falls below the threshold, the individual or family is considered poor.

Food Threshold

▶ In the first semester of 2015, the estimated per capita food threshold in the Cordilleras was PhP 7,668. With this, an individual needed a minimum monthly average take home pay of PhP 1,278 to meet basic food needs set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI). For a family of five, they needed at least an average of PhP 6,390 monthly income.

▶ If the income of the individual or family falls below the food threshold, they are considered subsistence poor or food poor. They are also called poorer than poor since they could not provide for themselves adequate sustenance to carry out productive activities.

▶ Among the provinces, Mountain Province posted the highest food threshold with PhP 8,263.

▶ Kalinga, Apayao and Abra still has the lowest with PhP 7,147, PhP 7,310 and PhP 7,474, respectively.

▶ The Food Threshold is the minimum income required for a family or individual to meet the basic food needs and satisfy the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) for economically and socially productive.

Poverty and Subsistence Incidence Among Population

▶ Poverty incidence among population in CAR decreased by 2.0% points, from 28.7% in the first semester of 2012 to 26.7 percent in the first semester of 2015.

▶ Among the provinces, Mt. Province had the highest poverty incidence with 49.9%, an increase of 4.6% in the first semester of 2012.

▶ The poor population in the province of Benguet also increased by 3.5% points, from 6.0% in first semester of 2015. Even though poverty incidence increased, Benguet remained to be the least poor in the region.

▶ Apayao has the biggest decline in poverty incidence, from 63.0% in first semester of 2012 down to 42.1% in first semester of 2015, a difference of 20.9 percentage points.

▶ Meanwhile, the subsistence poor population of CAR also decreased, from 16.00% in first semester of 2012 to 12.50% in first semester of 2015.

▶ However, Mt. Province and Benguet both increased in subsistence incidences while the other provinces decreased

▶ The subsistence poor in Mountain Province increased by 4.7% points, from 20.0% in first semester of 2012 to 24.7% in first semester of 2015.

▶ Benguet had an additional 0.7% points to its food poor population, from 1.4% in first semester of 2012 to 2.1% in first semester 2015. Nevertheless, Benguet still managed to be the province with the least number of food poor population.

▶ Apayao had the highest estimated subsistence incidence in first semester of 2015 with 31.1% followed by Mt. Province with 24.7% and Ifugao with 21.7%.

Poverty and Subsistence Incidence Among Families

▶ The poverty incidence among families in CAR was estimated at 20.6% during the first semester of 2015. Compared to the recorded 22.6% in the first semester of 2012, the percentage of poor families went down by 2.0% points.

▶ Same as the percentage of poor population, Mt. Province also had the highest percentage of poor families in first semester of 2015 with 40.7%. This was an increase of 5.9% points from 34.8% in first semester of 2012.

▶ The percentage of poor families in Benguet increased as well, from 4.3% in first semester of 2012 to 6.4% in first semester of 2015. Although Benguet was one of just two of the provinces that increased in poverty incidences, again, it had the lowest percentage of poor families in CAR.

▶ In terms of percentage difference, Apayao dove 22.3 percentage points to 37.5% in first semester 2015 from 59.8% in first semester of 2012.

▶ The subsistence incidence among families or families in extreme poverty in the region also went down by 3.1 percentage points, from 12.3% in first semester 2012 to 9.2% in first semester of 2015.

▶ Apayao had the highest subsistence incidence among families with 26.5%. On the other hand, Benguet remain to have the lowest with 1.2%.

▶ In terms of change, Apayao persisted to have the highest percentage point drop from 40.3% in first semester of 2012 to 26.5% in first semester of 2015.

Income Gap, Poverty Gap and Severity of Poverty

▶ In the first semester of 2015, average incomes of poor families were short by 27.9% of the poverty threshold. This was an improvement from the estimates reported in 2012 at 33.4%. The poverty gap and severity of poverty also improved in the region.

▶ Apayao and Mt. Province had the highest income gaps with 36.7% and 31.0%, respectively in first semester of 2015. Meanwhile, Benguet has the lowest average at 18.3%.

▶ Generally, income gap, poverty gap and severity of poverty in the provinces decreased from first semester of 2012 to same period of 2015.

▶ Although poverty increased in Benguet, the province managed to decrease its income gap and severity of poverty was unchanged.

▶ Only Mountain Province posted increases on all the measures of poverty.

Technical Notes

Food Threshold - the minimum income required for a family or individual to meet the basic food needs and satisfy the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) for economically and socially productive.

Subsistence Incidence - the proportion of people in extreme or subsistence poverty.

Poverty Threshold - the minimum income required for a family or individual to meet basic food and non-food needs(clothing, housing, transportation, health and education expenses).

Poverty Incidence - the proportion of people below the poverty threshold to the total population of the Cordillera Administrative Region.

Income Gap - measures the average income required by the poor family in order to get out of poverty.

Poverty Gap - refers to the income shortfall(expressed in proprttion to the poverty threshold) of families with incme below poverty threshold, divided by the total number of families.

Severity of Poverty - is the total of the 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.