Poverty in the Philippines: Causes and Effects

Poverty in Philippines

Causes and Effect

Poverty is more widespread and persistent in the Philippines than in neighbouring countries. Before WWII, Philippines were considered as one of the richest countries (next to Japan) in Southeast Asia. Now, the Philippines is threatened to be trapped in poverty. With the economic expansion of China and other countries in Asia, Philippines have failed to keep up with them and are now considered a third world country. Philippines have lost its once great wealth due to unemployment issues and unchecked population growth, among other reasons. The poverty in the Philippines has caused the nation to slow its economic expansion. If the Philippines do not manage to inflate its economy, it will be stuck in an economic trap.

About half of the Philippines’ 88 million people live in rural areas. Poverty is most severe and most widespread in these areas and almost 80 percent of the country’s poor people live there. Agriculture is the primary and often only source of income for poor rural people, most of whom depend on subsistence farming and fishing for their livelihoods. The poorest of the poor are the indigenous peoples, small-scale farmers who cultivate land received through agrarian reform, landless workers, fishers, people in upland areas and women.

There are substantial differences in the level of poverty between the regions and provinces and the poverty gap between urban and rural areas is widening. The causes of poverty in rural areas in the Philippines vary widely from island to island. Among the causes of rural poverty are a decline in the productivity and profitability of farming, smaller farm sizes and unsustainable practices that have led to deforestation and depleted fishing waters. Rural areas lag behind in economic growth and they have higher underemployment. This is partly because poor people have little access to