The National Statistics Office (NSO) conducted for the second time the nationwide Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) in October 1999. The survey was designed to provide access and impact indicators which can be used as inputs to the development of an integrated poverty indicator and monitoring system for the assessment of government program on poverty alleviation and for use in policy and planning.

Covering 41,000 sample households all over the country, APIS gathered information on the socio-economic profile of families and other information related to their living conditions. These non-income based indicators supplement the identification of the poor families.

The 1999 report card on poverty indicators from APIS showed both gains (ñ) and losses (ò) compared with the 1998 report, as well as those with little change (ó). The indicators are grouped into two sets: one to monitor the access to identified minimum basic needs (MBN) and the other to track down other correlates of poverty.

MBN indicators

On survival

with married women 15-49 years old who had access to family planning services during the past 6 months

with access to safe drinking water

with sanitary toilets

with pregnant/lactating family members and were provided with iron supplements

with pregnant/lactating family members and were provided with iodine supplements

with pregnant/lactating family members and were given at least 2 shots/doses of tetanus toxoid injections

with married women 15-49 years old practicing family planning during the past 6 months

On security

with owned/ownerlike possession of house/lot

with family head who is gainfully employed

with at least a family member 18 years old and over who is gainfully employed

On enabling

with at least one family member involved in at least one legitimate people’s organization/association for community development

with children 6-12 years old who are in elementary school

with children 13-16 years old who are in high school

with working children 5-17

Related correlates of poverty

On survival

with electricity in the house/residential building

On security

with housing unit (roof and outer walls) made of strong materials

engaged in agricultural activities and received agricultural extension service

availed of house/lot through the assistance of government housing or financing program

with lands other than for residence that was availed through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)

On enabling

with children in tertiary school and received scholarship from government or private sector.

with membership in a cooperative

with loan availed to finance entrepreneurial activities/businesses

Legend:

     Increase in percentage

    Loss in percentage

  Very minimal gain or loss

1. Survival Indicators

FOOD AND NUTRITION

The percentage of families receiving iron and iodine supplements decreased.

Iron Supplement

• A total of 1.6 million or 10.7% of the total families had married female family members 15-49 years old who were pregnant and/or lactating from April 1 to September 30, 1999. Of these, about 1 million or 64.8 percent were recipients of the iron supplements.
• Three out of five of these families belonging to the lowest 40% income stratum received the iron nutrients to supplement the needed vitamins of the married pregnant women. This percentage is lower compared to the 70 percent of their counterparts in the highest 60% income stratum. This was also the case in 1998.
• When compared to the same period last year, the percentage of families with pregnant and/or lactating married female members receiving the iron supplements in 1999 in the lowest 40% income group was lower by 7.1 percentage points.

Iodine Supplement

• Approximately 910.0 thousand (or 57.5%) of families with married pregnant/lactating women received iodine supplement during the period April 1 to September 30, 1999.
• Like the iron supplements, the percentage of families (52.8%) in the lowest 40% income bracket was lower than that (61.7%) of the highest 60% income group. This was also the case in 1998.

HEALTH

A lower percentage of families in 1999 was observed to have availed of at least 2 doses or 2 shots of tetanus toxoid injection compared to 1998.

• Three out of five families with pregnant and/or lactating married members who were 15-49 years old in 1999 were given at least two injections of Tetanus Toxoid. This percentage was lower than the reported percentage (71.4%) in 1998.
• The same downward trend can be seen between the two-year period in the lowest 40% and highest 60% income brackets with percentage point decreases of 12.7% and 8.8%, respectively.

More families with married women 15-49 years old had access to family planning in 1999 but lesser numbers were practicing it.

• The number of families with married women aged 15-49 years old who had access to family planning services went up by 4.0% to 8.733 million in 1999 from 8.396 million a year ago. The percentage of families with married women who had access to family planning services increased from 88.7% in 1998 to 91.7%. Increases of 3.9 percentage points and 2.4 percentage points were observed in the lowest 40% and highest 60% income strata, respectively.
• On the other hand, there were 3.4 million or 35.8% of families with married women who practiced family planning in the last 6 months. This was a decrease of 8.3 percentage points from 44.1% last year.

ELECTRICITY, WATER AND SANITATION

Percentage of families with access to safe drinking water, sanitary toilets and use of electricity in the house slightly increased.

• The number of families with access to safe drinking water increased by 4.2% to 11.684 million in 1999 from 11.217 million in 1998. This was equivalent to an increase in terms of percentages from 78.1% in 1998 to 79.2% in 1999.
• The number of families with sanitary toilets rose by 5.1% to 12.142 million in 1999 from 11.558 million a year ago. The percentage of families using sanitary toilets in both income strata increased by about 2 percentage points from 1998 to 1999. However, only two out of three families in the lowest 40% income group had sanitary toilets as compared to 9 out of 10 families in the highest 60% income group.
• Families using electricity at home also increased at a modest pace, by 4.5% to 10.802 million in 1999. The percentage of families with electricity at home edged up to 73.3% which was a slight improvement from 72.3% last year. A similar observation can be noted for both income groups. Close to a half of families in the lowest 40% used electricity compared to 9 out of 10 families in the highest 60%.

2. Security Indicators

SHELTER

The percentage of families living in housing units made of strong materials (roof and outer walls) in 1999 was 52.6% which was a minimal increase from 52.1% a year earlier.

• The number of families with housing units made of strong materials increased by 3.4% to 7.750 million in 1999 from 7.493 million last year. The two income groups followed the same trend: from 29.1% in 1998 to 29.8% in 1999 for the lowest 40% income group and from 67.5% in 1998 to 67.7% in 1999 for the highest 60% income group.

The percentage of families owning the house and/or lot they occupy increased slightly from 68.3% in 1998 to 68.6%.

• The number of families with owned/ownerlike possession of house/lot increased by 2.9% to 10.110 million in 1999 from 9.821 million last year. For the lowest 40% income group in 1999, the percentage was recorded at 65.7% compared to 65.6% in 1998. On the other hand, the highest 60% income group moved up by a modest 0.3 percentage point, from 70.2% in 1998 to 70.5% in 1999.

Of the 10.1 million families which owned their house and/or lot in 1999, only 5.9% were able to get the assistance of the government housing or financing program and this was short by 0.4-percentage point compared to the previous year.

• The percentage of the bottom 40 percent families acquiring house and/or lot through government assistance was only 2.9% compared to 3.3% in 1998. The highest 60 percent families had the same situation but they had a higher percentage at 7.8%.

The percentage of families which acquired lands used for other purposes than residence through CARP remained the same.

• One in every five families owned land for purposes other than residence. Of these families, 288.0 thousand acquired their land through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) for 1999 from 230.7 thousand in 1998. The equivalent percentages for both years was 0.9%.

EMPLOYMENT

A greater percentage of families in the bottom 40% had their family heads unemployed in 1999.

• A drop of 19.9 percentage points in the total number of families whose head were gainfully employed was seen in 1999 compared to those in 1998.
• There was a greater decrease in the percentage of families belonging to the bottom 40% income strata from 89.1% in 1998 to 57.6% in 1999.

On the other hand the percentage of families with at least a gainfully employed member 18 years old and over remained the same at 95%.

• The number of families with at least a gainfully employed member of majority age went up by 2.5% to14.006 million in 1999 from 13.671 million a year ago.

More families engaged in agricultural activities received agricultural extension services in 1999.

• The number of families engaged in agricultural activities went down by 8.7% to 5.675 million in 1999 from 6.217 million in 1998.
• About 565.426 thousand (10.0%) of these families received agriculture extension services in 1999 compared to 404.689 thousand (6.5%) in 1998.
• 8.1% of the lowest 40% families engaged in agricultural activities received agricultural extension services compared to 5.4% in 1998. For the highest 60%, the comparative figures were 12.7% in 1999 as against 8.1% the year before.

3. Enabling Indicators

EDUCATION

There were decreases in the number of the current enrollees in primary and secondary schools.

• While the percentage of families with children 6-12 years old increased from 52.1% in 1998 to 52.7% in 1999, the percentage of families with children 6-12 years old enrolled in elementary schools decreased from 91.1% in 1998 to 83.9% in 1999.
• 82.1% of the lowest 40% families had members 6-12 years old who were currently enrolled in elementary school in 1999, which was 7.5 percentage points less than that in 1998. Similarly, the percentage of families in the highest 60% income group which were sending their children 6-12 years old to elementary school declined by 6.9 percentage points.
• A similar scenario can be seen for the families sending their children 13-16 years old in high school. The percentage of families with members 13-16 years old who were currently enrolled in high school was reduced considerably by 11 percentage points from 1998 to 1999.

However, there were scholarships given to 259.8 thousand students in the tertiary level from private organizations and from the government, which was an increase of 41.2% compared to 184.0 thousand in 1998.

• 12.8% of the families with members who were enrolled in tertiary education received scholarship in 1999 through either government program or private institution. The percentage of these families was almost the same for both income groups. A year ago the percentage was 9.4%.

INVOLVEMENT IN PEOPLE’S ORGANIZATION, NON-GOVERNMENT ORGANIZATION AND/OR COOPERATIVE

More families (one in four) were becoming active in participating in different organizations for community development.

• Some 4.097 million families or 27.8% of the total number of families have at least one family member involved in any people’s organization/non-government organization in 1999 compared to 3.411 million a year ago.
• The percentage of families in the lowest 40% income group grew from 19.4% in 1998 to 24.5% in 1999 in terms of their involvement in any PO/NGO.

More families had members involved in cooperatives in 1999.

• The number of families with members in cooperatives increased by 29.1% to 2.392 million in 1999 from 1.852 million a year ago. This was equivalent to 16.2% of total families compared to 12.9% in 1998.
• Membership was higher for the highest 60% families for 1998 (15.3%) and 1999 (18.9%). The percentage for the lowest 40% families was about 6 percentage points lower.

AVAILMENT OF LOAN FOR ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITIES/BUSINESS

Three in every five families in the country were engaged in entrepreneurial activities for both years.

• The percentage of those in the lowest 40% income strata having business (70.4%) was higher than that in the highest 60% income strata (54.5%).
• In terms of availing loans, the number of families availing of loans for business went up slightly by 1.2% to 2.173 million in 1999 from 2.147 million in 1998. The equivalent percentage of the families remained at about one-fourth.
• High interest rates, having no collateral, and no knowledge where to get loans were among the reasons given by families in the bottom 40% income group who could not avail of credit for their entrepreneurial activities.

PRESENCE OF WORKING CHILDREN

Families with working children 5-17 years old remained at about 15%.

• About 1.511 million (14.7%) of the total families with children 5-17 years old in 1999 allowed their children 5-17 years old to be employed compared to 1.507 million (15.2%) in 1998.

4. Changes In Welfare

• About 52.3% reported that their situation in 1999 stayed the same in the last 12 months. This percentage was more than the combined total percentage of those who affirmed their family situation to be better off (13.8%) or worst off (33.9%). Those in the highest 60% bracket had a better off assessment in the last 12 months than the lowest 40% group.
• More earnings (46.9%), abundant harvest (14.3%) and better health (13.4%) were the significant reasons of families who stated that their situation was better off at present. On the other hand, increases in food prices (47%) coupled with reduced income (22.7%) were the reasons accounted for by the other families for their present conditions described as worst off.
• Changing the eating pattern (49.3%) and increased working hours for additional income or pay (38.6%) were the often-cited steps taken by families to cope up with the worst situation.
• 50.1% of the families expected their situation in the next 12 months to be the same as before. On the other hand, 29.4% of these families perceived their family situation in the next 12 months to improve and another 20.5% thought otherwise. More families in the highest 60% group expected their situation to improve.
• Ranking the welfare status of their family from 1 (lowest rank) to 10 (highest rank), a quarter of families in the bottom 40% income group foresee their families on the 3rd step. About a quarter also placed their families on the 2nd step. Among the highest 60% income stratum, most ranked themselves at the 5th step. Overall, less than 15% rated themselves higher than the 5th step.

Source: Income and Employment Statistics Division

             National Statistics Office

             Republic of the Philippines