1 of 3 Pinoy children living in poverty – study

MANILA, Philippines - Roughly one out of every three Filipino children is drowning in abject poverty, according to the government’s think tank.

The key findings of the study conducted by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) show that both the number and severity of poverty among Filipino children have been increasing through the years.

In 2009 alone, there were about 13.4 million Filipino children living in poverty, and there was no reason for the numbers to be reduced dramatically.

PIDS senior research fellow and lead author Celia Reyes said that the numbers represent 36 percent or more than one-third of all Filipino children aged below 18.

“Being poor, they suffer from deprivations of food, shelter, health and education,” Reyes said.

Around 10 million of these children face at least two overlapping types of severe deprivation in basic amenities, while an estimated 750,000 face at least five kinds of deprivation simultaneously.

During the same year, there were around four million children who did not have access to sanitary toilet facilities, while another four million did not have access to safe water. Another 260,000 did not have decent shelter.

“There were 1.4 million children living in informal settlements, 6.5 million not having access to electricity in their homes and 3.4 million not having means to access information,” Reyes said.

In terms of education, the key issues are low cohort survival and poor level of achievement.

In the last 10 years, the percentage of students who were able to complete elementary and secondary levels had hardly improved.

“Largely because of poverty, 5.5 million children were forced to work in 2011 to augment family income. These children are unable to pursue their education and this affects their ability to find better work opportunities in the future,” the study noted.

Poverty in the country is largely a rural phenomenon. The study estimates that three out of four children from income poor families are living in rural areas.

At the same time, eight of 10 who are severely deprived of safe water and sanitary toilet are found in rural areas.

Zamboanga peninsula, Eastern Visayas and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao were identified by the study as the regions where the condition of children is dismal in many aspects and therefore should be prioritized in interventions.

Population growth, the lack of inclusivity of economic growth and the exposure of the country to natural calamities are expected to worsen child poverty in the next few years.

“In the Philippines, despite the country’s recent economic progress, poverty continues to affect millions of families with young children. This is visible in the number of young ones who wander the streets in urban areas, scavenge for resources, or those who, at an early age, are forced to drop out of school to work to supplement their family income,” Reyes said.

According to the study, the problem goes beyond mere lack of income or assets for these children’s families. Their situation speaks of a roster of factors that range from lack of appropriate skills to inability to control fertility, intertwined with lack of job opportunities and other economic problems.

The Philippine Statistics Authority said the top three sectors experiencing extreme poverty were fisherfolk, farmers and children.

The incidence of poverty averaged nearly 25 percent of the entire population in the first semester of 2013, based on latest government data.

In the same period, the underemployment rate stood at 19.2 percent of the population, while the unemployment rate was 7.3 percent.

The per capita poverty threshold stood at P9,626 in the same period.