Urban Poverty... Degasa, Nestor Y.

Republic of the Philippines
UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN PHILIPPINES

LAOANG CAMPUS
Laoang, Northern Samar
NAME OF REPORTER: NESTOR Y. DEGASA JR.

COOURSE & YEAR: BSED 2B- SOCIAL STUDIES
SUBJECT: GEOGRAPHY 3
TOPIC: URBAN POVERTY
Urban Poverty
Urban poverty is complex and multidimensional—extending beyond the
deficiency of income or consumption, where its many dimensions relate to the
vulnerability of the poor on account of their inadequate access to land and housing,
physical infrastructure and services, economic and livelihood sources, health and
education facilities, social security networks, and voice and empowerment
According to Oxford bibliographies, urban poverty refers to the set of
economic and social difficulties that are found in industrialized cities and that are the
result of a combination of processes such as: the establishment of comfortable living
standards, the increase of individualism, processes of social fragmentation, and the
dualization of the labor market, which translates into social dualization.
Several Aspects of Urban Poverty that makes it

Complex and Different
First, urban poverty is mainly a monetary phenomenon, hence, the poor stand
exposed to the behavior of the economic system and to internal and external shocks.
Second, cities represent the extremes of wealth and poverty, the larger the
gap and inequalities in incomes, the more difficult it is to reduce poverty. Increasing
urban inequalities have raised tensions and led to protests and riots in the different
parts of the world.
Who are the Urban Poor?

Feminization of Poverty
 If poverty is to be seen as a denial of human rights, it should be recognized
that the women among the poor suffer doubly from the denial of their human
rights—
 first, on account of gender inequality, and second, on account of poverty.
 Their capacity to lift themselves out of poverty is circumscribed by cultural,
legal, and labor-market constraints on their social and occupational mobility.
Urban Children
 Many children who are in school can end up dropping out. Even just the threat
of eviction can mean chronic anxiety and an unwillingness to make invest in
housing and neighborhood that can provide a better environment for children
and help a family over time to work its way out of poverty.
 Urban children are heavily exposed to toxic elements and pollutants, living in
areas contaminated by industrial wastes, or close to heavy traffic.
Urban Youth
 An increase in the proportion of young people (age group 15–24) in the
population is commonly cited as a “youth bulge” or a “demographic dividend.”
 Many in this age group drop out of school and look for livelihood opportunities
to earn for themselves and their families, but with limited education and
limited skill sets. They are, thus, led to work in the urban informal sector, in
highly vulnerable conditions.
Minority Groups
 There are several vulnerable minority groups in Asian countries and these
vulnerabilities are defined by religion, caste, creed, language, and others.
These groups include the “hill tribes” in Thailand, “ethnic minorities” in Viet
Nam, “minority nationalities” in the PRC, “scheduled tribes” and “scheduled
castes” in India, and “cultural communities” in the Philippines.
Causes of Poverty
The main causes of poverty in the country include the following:
 low to moderate economic growth for the past 40 years;
 low growth elasticity of poverty reduction;
 weakness in employment generation and the quality of jobs generated;
 failure to fully develop the agriculture sector;
 high inflation during crisis periods;
 high levels of population growth;
 high and persistent levels of inequality (incomes and assets), which dampen
the positive impacts of economic expansion; and
 recurrent shocks and exposure to risks such as economic crisis, conflicts,
natural disasters, and "environmental poverty."
Key Findings
According to Asian Development Bank, the report's key findings include the
following:
 Economic growth did not translate into poverty reduction in recent years;
 Poverty levels vary greatly by regions;
 Poverty remains a mainly rural phenomenon though urban poverty is on the
rise;
 Poverty levels are strongly linked to educational attainment;
 The poor have large families, with six or more members;
 Many Filipino households remain vulnerable to shocks and risks;
 Governance and institutional constraints remain in the poverty response;
 There is weak local government capacity for implementing poverty reduction
programs;
 Deficient targeting in various poverty programs;
 There are serious resource gaps for poverty reduction and the attainment of
the MDGs by 2015;
 Multidimensional responses to poverty reduction are needed; and
 Further research on chronic poverty is needed.
Based on the Preliminary Results of the Family Income and Expenditure Survey
(FIES) in 2021.
…poverty incidence among population, defined as the proportion of Filipinos
whose per capita income cannot sufficiently meet the individual basic food and non-
food needs, was recorded at 18.1 percent. This translates to around 19.99 million
Filipinos who lived below the poverty threshold of about Php 12,030 per month for a
family of five.
The subsistence incidence, defined as the proportion of Filipinos whose income is
not enough to meet even just the basic food needs, slightly increased to 5.9 percent
in 2021.
The subsistence incidence among families was observed at 3.9 percent, which is
equivalent to 1.04 million poor families below the food poverty line.
Extreme Effects of Poverty in the Philippines
Inability to afford Housing

With poverty plaguing the country and employment opportunities being
scarce, many Filipinos are unable to afford housing, which puts them in danger of
turning to the streets for accommodation. In 2012, extreme poverty within the
Philippines affected 19.2 percent of the population or around 18.4 million people.
This poverty line survived on $1.25 a day, making it extremely difficult to rise
out of poverty and find affordable housing for Filipinos and their families.
Malnutrition
Hunger is one of the extreme effects of poverty in the Philippines. With little
money to buy food, Filipinos are having to survive on very limited food; even when
food supplies are stable, they are most accessible in other areas where people have
enough income to purchase the food.
And with such an unequal distribution of income, there is a low demand for
food supplies in less developed areas that are home to low-income residents. The
quality of food is also decreasing — rice used to be the main source of food for
Filipinos, but now it has largely been replaced with instant noodles, which is cheaper
but less nutritious. As a result, malnutrition has become a lot more common.
Child Labor
With poverty taking a toll on Filipinos, parents often can’t make enough
money to support their families; children then have to be taken out of school to work
in harsh conditions. Statistics show that around 3.6 million children, from ages 5-17,
are child laborers in the Philippines. This is 15.9 percent of the entire population.
Crime and Thievery
With conditions so troublesome, people often resort to crime and thievery to
survive. Research found that one of the overwhelming reasons to steal is due to
difficulties caused by poverty. Without proper employment, people turn to stealing,
especially since family sizes are rather large, and there are a lot of people to provide
for.
There are too many people and not enough resources. And with such conditions,
people become desperate and practice drastic measures to provide for themselves
and their families.
Thank You!

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Republic of the Philippines

UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN PHILIPPINES

NAME OF REPORTER: NESTOR Y. DEGASA JR.

Several Aspects of Urban Poverty that makes it

Who are the Urban Poor?

Inability to afford Housing

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