According to the 2004 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey, at least eight out of 10 Filipino families meet the minimum basic needs (MBN) for survival which, in this survey, is measured by access to safe drinking water, presence of electricity at home, and use of sanitary toilet. Eighty percent of the total families in the Philippines have access to safe drinking water, 86 percent have sanitary toilets, and 80 percent have electricity in their homes (Table 1). Non-poor families are more likely to satisfy these needs. Nine in 10 families that belong to the higher 70% income stratum have electricity in their homes compared to five in 10 families in the lowest 30%. Similarly, non-poor families have better access to safe drinking water and more likely to have a sanitary toilet at home with 86 percent and 93 percent, respectively, as compared to 65 percent and 70 percent among the poor families. For both poor and non-poor families, the percentages with access to safe drinking water, with sanitary toilets and with electricity at home are similar to the 2002 figures (Table 1).

The 2004 APIS results also allow a comparison of the non-poor families with the poor families in terms of the achievement of the minimum basic requirements for security. Poor families (43.4%) are less likely to live in housing units made of strong materials than those who are non-poor (82.2%). However, ownership of house and lot does not vary significantly between the two income groups. At least six out of 10 Filipino families, whether poor or non-poor, have their own house and lot. In terms of employment, a larger percentage of family heads belonging to the lowest 30% income group than in the highest 70% are employed. Nine in 10 poor families have gainfully employed heads as compared to eight in 10 among the non-poor families. These percentages are generally higher than the estimates from the 2002 APIS (Table 1). Moreover, 97 percent of poor families have at least one gainfully employed member who is 18 years old and over compared to 92 percent of non-poor families.

On empowerment or enabling needs, at least 90 percent of both poor and non-poor families with children 6 to 12 years of age have children of these ages who are enrolled in elementary grades. However, six out of 10 poor families with children 13 to 16 years old as compared to eight out of 10 non-poor families have children of these ages who are in high school. There was a drop in the percentage of families with children aged 13 to 16 years who are enrolled in high school among the lowest 30% income group between the 2002 and 2004 APIS rounds. In addition, poor families are more likely to have working children 5 to 17 years old with 23 percent compared to 8 percent among the non-poor families. An increase in child labor was seen in the lowest 30% income stratum from year 2002 to 2004 (Tables 2 & 3).

Participation in a community or people’s organization was also used in the survey as an indicator of the family’s empowerment. The percentage of families with at least one member involved in legitimate people’s organization remained at 27 percent in 2004. In both 2002 and 2004 APIS rounds, the percentages for both poor and non-poor families are similar. Meanwhile, the 2004 APIS showed a marked increase in Philhealth membership. The proportion of families with at least one family member enrolled in Philhealth was 42 percent in 2004 APIS as compared to 28 percent in APIS 2002. Only about three in every 10 families in the lowest 30% income stratum reported that they have at least one Philhealth member while almost five in every 10 families in the higher 70% income group said so. Both income groups exhibited a remarkable increase in Philhealth membership (Tables 2 & 3).

The 2004 APIS is the fourth in a series of nationwide poverty indicators surveys undertaken by the National Statistics Office (NSO). The APIS is designed to provide access and impact indicators that can be used as inputs to the development of an integrated poverty indicator and monitoring system for the assessment of the government programs on poverty alleviation. A total of 42,789 sample households were interviewed in the 2004 APIS undertaken last July 2004.

(Sgd.) CARMELITA N. ERICTA

Administrator            

TECHNICAL NOTES
 

ï‚·  The Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) is a sample survey designed to provide information on the different indicators related to poverty. The APIS is undertaken during the years when the Family Income and Expenditures Survey (FIES) is not conducted.
 

ï‚·  For this report, families are grouped into two income strata, the lowest 30% and higher 70%. The lowest 30% refers to the bottom 30 percent of the total families in the per capita income distribution arranged in descending order. These families represent those considered as poor. On the other hand, the higher 70% refers to the upper 70 percent of the total families in the per capita income distribution; these families are considered as non-poor.
 

ï‚·  The grouping of families into lowest 30% and higher 70% income strata is based on the preliminary estimates of the annual per capita poverty incidence of families (24.7%) and population (30.4%) from the 2003 FIES.
 

ï‚·  The 2002 APIS used the lowest 40% and higher 60% income groupings. For comparability of current results with the 2002 APIS data, 2002 percentages in this release were generated using the lowest 30% and higher 70% per capita income groupings.

Sources:
2004 & 2002 Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS)
Demographic and Social Statistics Division
National Statistics Office
Manila, Philippines