SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY

Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya

School of Graduate Studies

MATSS 204 – Asian Comparative Studies

Pre-requisites: none
Credit Units: Lecture: 3 Laboratory: 0
Time Allotment: Lecture: 3 Laboratory Total: 3

Unit Expectancies: By the end of the chapter, the students are expected to:
1. Discuss the factors affecting the nation’s progress;
2. Explain the primary role of the nation’s leaders and its people for the economic
development;
3. Compare the poverty situations of the selected Asian nations; and
4. Apprehend and trace causes and effects of poverty in the immediate community by
conducting a mini interview and survey and providing simple steps to reduce poverty
situations.

I. Introduction

“Poverty is not a hindrance to success”, a common adage used in different competitions that can be
an edge to overcome trials and challenges in one’s life. Poverty is very much prevalent in the
world’s society. A lot of factors have been considered for a nation to be qualified as the poorest in
the whole world. Causes of scarceness are changing trends in a country’s economy. Associated with
the primary causes: Unemployment rate, inflation, debt, fiat currency, corruption, fractional-reserve
banking, federal reserve, extreme weather, lack of control in local food, mental illness - lack of
proper psychiatric care, world hunger, epidemic diseases, Automation - technological
unemployment, over population. Furthermore, historical causes are also a contributor: Slavery, war
and conquest. These different influences are continuously changing as time goes by. As
technological advancement and modernity booms, elements of poverty are also leveling-up.

Looking at the other side of the coin, according to the Merriam Webster, abundance which is the
antonym of the word “poverty”, is having or providing a large amount of something that is wanted
or needed. So, it is then clear that no one in this world is rich for it is impossible that a person or a
country has attained the perfectness of its needs and wants. Accordingly, as your material assets
and possessions level-up, your standard of living follows. In connection, Abraham Maslow’s
Hierarchy of needs, we need to suffice and address our necessities as we reach the peak of the
pyramid. Poorness and richness is not only measured by one’s material possessions but non-
material or intangible desires such as love, care, respect and integrity are also some of the aspects
to be achieved to reach the peak of a flawless existence.

Hence, this module aims to present poverty in selected Asian nations for us to understand the
essentials for economic development in a bigger perspective. At this point, we would be able to
compare poverty situations experienced in the different levels of perception. In this topic, we would
be able to recognize a lot of factors concerning poverty. Being one of the most dominant difficulties
in the society, we must try our best to look at the wider viewpoint of this concern for us to come up
with the answers that can solve the predicaments. At the end of this, expectantly, we will be
enlightened that poverty is not just a mere notion that can be defined by any one from us, instead,
this is a general point of view that we experience in our daily lives as humans and we have our own
unique way of overcoming such. Poverty is relative.
II. Content
Preliminary Activity:

Picture Me Out!

Study, analyze, and interpret the

pictures then answer the
questions that follow.

Questions:

1. What can you say about the pictures?

2. Can you see the pictures being shown in the society where you in?

3. Why do we experience such?

4. In any case, did you already experience what the pictures depict? How do you cope with it?
 Poverty
iscussing poverty seems to be a tough and challenging work since different authors with
diversity of backgrounds present the concept in various ways. How do we define poverty then? Is it
all about lack of access to public services? Or is it merely about the level of profits and earnings
acquired by a family circle or individuals?

overty is experienced at different levels. The history of nations around the world about poverty
is not the same with each other in terms of the different factors (wars, famines, etc.). None the
less, even we share a dissimilar pasts, no one in this world, if we had only a choice, we do not want
poverty. According to the International Poverty Center (IPC) directed by Terry McKinley (2006), this
is the inspiration of the International Development Community with its leaders to state and
reconfirm their agreement that poverty must be reduced and eventually eradicated.

he term in its broadest sense was described by Simon Maxwel (1999), in his ODI Poverty
Briefing (as:
• Income or consumption poverty
• Human (under)development
• Social exclusion
• Ill-being
• (Lack of) capability and functioning
• Vulnerability
• Livelihood unsustainability
• Lack of basic needs
• Relative deprivation

What is its meaning? Who are the Poor?

Lifted from Joseph Rowntree Foundation, poverty is when a person's resources (mainly their
material resources) are not sufficient to meet their minimum needs (including social participation).
However, Robert Chambers (2013), Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, UK stated that what it
is taken to mean depends on who asks the question, how it is understood, and who responds. From
this perspective, it has at least clusters of meaning: The first is income-poverty or its common
substitution (because less unreliable to measure) consumption-poverty. This needs no elaboration.
When many, especially economists, use the word poverty they are referring to these measures.
Poverty is what can be and has been measured, and measurement and comparisons provide
endless scope for debate; The second cluster of meaning is material lack or want. Besides income,
this includes lack of or little wealth and lack or low quality of other assets such as shelter, clothing,
furniture, personal means of transport, radios or television, and so on. This also tends to include no
or poor access to services; A third cluster of meanings derives from Amartya Sen, and is expressed
as capability deprivation, referring to what we can or cannot do, can or cannot be. This includes but
goes beyond material lack or want to include human capabilities, for example skills and physical
abilities, and also self-respect in society; A fourth cluster takes a yet more broadly multi-
dimensional view of deprivation, with material lack or want as only one of several mutually
reinforcing dimensions. Accordingly, these four clusters of the meanings of poverty have all been
created by us. These are the results of our educational attainments, ideologies, personal
experiences, thoughts and discernments.

Two Dimensions of Poverty Expressions:

The illustration expressed the twelve dimensions

of how we see poverty. Each one has a great
influence with each other, thus accentuating the
interdependence of the scopes of poverty as we
perceive them.

The second expression of this has five extents

to show the shifting of development from Ill-
being to well-being.

The study conducted by the IPC presented that these measurements have been elicited in various
settings with the participation of the World Bank’s Research Programme Voices for the Poor. The
respondents were 20,000 poor men and women from 23 countries and were convened in small
groups and assisted to analyze and express their realisms. As a result, the word poverty was
translated into other languages to seek better insights and comparability and to ensure the
maximum reliability and validity of the study.

Moreover, the IPC consolidated some reliable sources to show a comparison of requirements of
human prosperity. (See table below.)

Requirements for Human Flourishing

Authors Rawls (1972) Finnis, Doyal and Nussbaum Narayan- Camfield
Grisez, and Gough (2000) Parker (2005)
Boyle (1993) (2000)
(1987)
Defining Primary Basic Basic needs Central Dimensions Quality of
concepts goods human and human of wellbeing life
values Interme- functional
diate needs capabilities
Bodily Bodily life – Physical Life Bodily Bodily
wellbeing health, health - health wellbeing
vigour and Nutrition: Bodily Access to
safety food and integrity health
water services
-Health care Good
-Safe birth physical
control and environ-
child ment
bearing -
Safe
Physical
environmen
t
Material Income and Protective Material Material
well- wealth housing wellbeing wellbeing
being Economic Food Assets Food
security Assets
Mental Knowledge Basic Senses, Education
develop- Practical education Imagination (Banglades
ment reason- , Thought h and
ableness Emotions Ethiopia,
Practical vs. Thailand
reason Play and Peru)
Work Freedom of Skillful Work Work
occupation performanc
e in work
and play
Security Physical Civil peace
security Physically
safe
environmen
 t Lawfulness
(access to
justice)
Personal
physical
security
Security in
old age
Social Social bases Friendship Significant Affiliation Social Family
relations of self- primary Social bases wellbeing -
respect relationship for self- Family -Self-
s respect respect and
dignity -
Community
relations
Spiritual Self- Religion
wellbeing integration (important
Harmony in
with Bangladesh
ultimate and
source of Thailand)
reality
Empower Rights, Autonomy Control Freedom of
-ment liberties, of agency over one’s choice and
and opportunitie Civil and environ- action
political s Powers & political ment
Freedom prerogatives rights
of office & Political
positions of participa-
responsi- tion
bility
Freedom of
movement
Respect Other
for other species
species
Source: International Poverty Centre, Poverty in Focus (December, 2006)

According to a historical perspective, studied by Peter Townsend (2013)

of London School of Economics, income is the first factor that resulted to poverty that has been
adopted to be at the center of the concept today. But, “income” should be cautiously and
accurately expounded. Aspects such as assets, subsidies to public services and employment should
be credited to come up at a comprehensive measure of income. Consequently, a person belongs to
the poor if he/she is deprived of income and other means to attain the conditions of living—the
diets, material goods, conveniences, standards and services – hinders the empowerment of them
to participate in their society’s standards, customs and traditions. In many centuries, understanding
of poverty has been a foremost human concern and worry. In view of that, since 1880’s, another
three alternative outsets have gone forward as a basis for global comparative work: The idea of
subsistence; basic needs and relative deprivations. In Victorian England, the Nutritionists were the
one who spearheaded the identification of the people who belongs to the poor. Accordingly,
Families were in poverty if their incomes were not sufficient to obtain the basic necessaries for the
maintenance of physical competence. And for more than 100 years, the idea of the subsistence has
influenced the scientific practice and international and national rules. In fact, The United States of
America used this idea as the basis for the measurement of poverty. Some of these impacts were
the statistical measures adopted to describe social conditions, at first within individual countries
but later with wide application by international agencies such as the World Bank. But then again,
as time goes by, the use of “subsistence” has been argued by the critics. They refuted the concept
because the idea is purely on physical. According to them, it disregarded the social needs of the
humans. They contended that People are not simply individual organisms requiring replacement of
sources of physical energy; they are social beings expected to perform socially demanding roles as
workers, citizens, parents, partners, neighbors and friends. Moreover, they are not simply
consumers of physical goods but producers of those goods and are also expected to act out
different roles in their various social associations. They are dependent on collectively provided.
These needs apply universally and not merely in the rich industrial societies. On the other hand, in
1970, a second influential idea was formulated, the “basic needs”. It was strongly supported by the
International Labor Organizations. In this idea, there were two elements involved. First, minimum
consumption needs of a family: adequate food, shelter and clothing, as well as certain household
furniture and equipment. And second, essential services provided by and for the community at
large, such as safe water, sanitation, public transport and health care, education and cultural
facilities. The idea of “basic needs” is an extension of the “subsistence” concept that material needs
for individual physical survival and efficiency, there are the facilities and services—for health care,
sanitation and education—required by local communities and populations as a whole. As a result,
the “basic needs” idea played a prominent role in national development procedures nurtured by
the international communities especially United Nations Organizations. People seemed to be
uncontended that in late 20th century, another formulation of the meaning of poverty was
developed: relative needs. This new idea combined the two concepts of poverty that it includes
both income and other factors such as material and social conditions. The relative needs presented
a concept that our world is continuously changing that according to them, people are not focus to
the same laws, requirements and beliefs that is applicable to the earlier period. With this ideology,
we need to upgrade even the definition of a particular thing. Based on this study, we need update
any historical point of reference of poverty. Therefore, it is not enough to define poverty in one
sided phase. Sometimes, we wrongfully define poverty as “inequality”. We need to consider that
Poor people are not just the victims of a misdistribution of resources but, more exactly, they lack,
or are denied, the resources to fulfill social demands and observe the customs as well as the
unfolding laws, of society.
With the different resources presented, it is then clear that Poverty is really a multifaceted one. If
that is the case then, the question is, “How to eliminate Poverty if we cannot identify the exact
problem?” Eradication of poverty requires better description and measurement. Thus, antipoverty
procedures must be scrutinized and assessed frequently and on a much larger scale by the
administrations, by the United Nations, by the international financial institutions and by other
relevant international agencies.

Indicators of Poverty
For us to answer this question, let us take a look on the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

MPI
Synthesized from the Human Development Report (2013), assessments in this model intend to
evaluate the different factors that contribute to poverty aside from income to understand the
bigger perspective of this challenge. A number of international MPI tools exist:
a. European Union (EU) 2020 official poverty measure- combining income, work, and material
deprivation;
b. UNDP’s MPI – percentage of poverty and its intensity;
c. “Bristol” methodology – poverty among children
d. United Nations Children’s Fund’s Multiple Overlapping Deprivation Analysis (UNICEF’s
MODA- poverty among children

The UNDPs Human Development Report Office circulated the MPI to at least trace deficiency across
three dimensions and 10 indicators:
a. Health
a1. Child mortality
a2. Nutrition
b. Education
b1. Years of schooling
b2. Enrolment
c. Living Standards
c1. Water
c2. Sanitation
c3. Electricity
c4. Cooking fuel
c5. Floor
c6. Assets.

Based on the Sustainable Development Open Working Group Outcome Document (2015), the
following specifications of deprivations are indicators of poverty:

 Adult or child malnourishment

  Disrupted or curtailed schooling (a minimum of years 1-8)
 The absence of any household member who has completed 6 years of schooling
 Child mortality within the household within the last 5 years
 Lack of access to safe drinking water
 Lack of access to basic sanitation services
 Lack of access to clean cooking fuel
 Lack of basic modern assets (radio, TV, telephone, computer, bike, motorbike, etc.)
 Lack of access to reliable electricity

Measurement of Poverty
Poverty needs to be measured for basis in policy-making. This is a fundamental requirement for the
definers and providers of information about poverty to evaluate how well various policies meet
insufficiency reduction goals.

1. Use of Poverty Lines- poverty lines, poverty threshold, or poverty limit is determining poverty
basing on the minimum level of income believed in a certain nation. The
use of this assessment tool much be carefully used for a reason that in
developed countries there is significantly higher level of Purchasing
Power of Peso (PPP) than in developing countries.
a. International Poverty Line (IPL)- a monetary inception introduced by the World Bank to
identify and trace the people living in the state of poverty. It is calculated by taking the
poverty threshold from each country – given the value of the goods needed to sustain one
adult – and converting it into dollars. Approximately $1 a day income is identified as the
calculation of the line. With this, it allows the international governments to trace which
populations belong to absolute poverty. This assessment tool is an objective way of
determining poverty.

How the IPL is assessed?

 The world bank sets the measurement at sporadic intervals to consider the
changing cost of living standards for food, clothing, and shelter around the world.
Basing from the investopedia, update of the poverty line was set because of the
different considerations. In 2008, the threshold was set to $1.25 a day. However, in
the year 2015, it was again updated to $1.95 a day. In line with this, According to
the World Bank, more than 900 million people were likely to be living the
international poverty line. With this, the Mother bank also projected that
approximately more than 700 million people were living in extreme poverty as of
2015.
 Lifted from the same source, defining how many people live in extreme poverty is
not a simple calculation of the poverty rates in each country. The threshold for
poverty can hugely contrasted from wealthy nations to countries facing economic
deterioration. The World Bank says it needs to measure all people against the same
 standard. Independent researchers working with the World Bank established the
figure for the initial international poverty line, which was reassessed at later
intervals taking the poorest nations into greater consideration in their calculations.
 Graph 1 and 2 below show a comparison of poverty across the world.
Graph 1: Year 1990-2011

Graph 2: Year 1987-2013

 2. Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) – This was developed in 2010 by the Oxford
Poverty and Human development Initiative (OPHI) in partnership with the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP). This considered different facets to describe poverty afar
income based-list. This is an assessment tool released annually by OPHI on its website as
replacement to the previous Human Poverty Index (HPI). It covers over 100 developing
countries. The different factors considered in this measurement are the extreme
deprivations that every person faces at the same time with respect to education, health,
and living standards. So, it assesses poverty at the individual level. If someone is deprived
in a third or more of ten (weighted) indicators, the global index identifies them as ‘MPI
poor’, and the extent – or intensity – of their poverty is measured by the number of
deprivations they are experiencing. These characteristic make the MPI worthy and useful as
a tool to analyze and make a move to lift the lives of the poorest among the poor and the
most vulnerable. With this, policy-makers more effectively and efficiently design poverty-
reduction programs for this people.
The following ten indicators are used to calculate the MPI:
 Education (each indicator is weighted equally at 1/6)
1. Years of schooling: deprived if no household member has completed six years of schooling
2. Child school attendance: deprived if any school-aged child is not attending school up to
class 8
 Health (each indicator is weighted equally at 1/6)
3. Child mortality: deprived if any child has died in the family in past 5 years
4. Nutrition: deprived if any adult or child, for whom there is nutritional information, is
stunted
 Standard of Living (each indicator is weighted equally at 1/18)
5. Electricity: deprived if the household has no electricity
6. Sanitation: deprived if the household’s sanitation facility is not improved (according
to MDG guidelines), or it is improved but shared with other households
7. Drinking water: deprived if the household does not have access to safe drinking water
(according to MDG guidelines) or safe drinking water is more than a 30-minute walk from
home roundtrip
8. Floor: deprived if the household has a dirt, sand or dung floor
9. Cooking fuel: deprived if the household cooks with dung, wood or charcoal
10. Assets ownership: deprived if the household does not own more than one of: radio, TV,
telephone, bike, motorbike or refrigerator and does not own a car or truck

Source:https://ophi.org.uk/multidimensional-poverty-index/
Looking across this indicators, after considering the calculation, a poverty cut-off of 33.33 %,
wherein any person’s score meets or exceeds this threshold is identified as multidimensionaly
poor.

The MPI reflects both the incidence or headcount ratio (𝐻) of poverty – the proportion of the
population who are multidimensionaly poor – and the average intensity (𝐴) of their poverty – the
average proportion of indicators in which poor people are deprived. The MPI is calculated by
multiplying the incidence of poverty by the average intensity across the poor (𝐻 × 𝐴). A person is
identified as poor if he or she is deprived in at least one-third of the weighted indicators. Those
identified as ‘vulnerable to poverty’ are deprived in 20% to 33.33% of weighted indicators, and
those identified as being in ‘severe poverty’ are deprived in 50% or more of the dimensions.

Table 1 provides a more precise summary of the dimensions, indicators, thresholds and weights
used in the MPI.

Table 1. The Dimensions, Indicators, Deprivation Cutoffs and Weights of the Global MPI 2018

Notes :

+ Adults 20 to 70 years are considered malnourished if their Body Mass Index (BMI) is below 18.5
m/kg2 . Those 5 to 20 are identified as malnourished if their age-specific BMI cutoff is below minus
two standard deviations. Children under 5 years are considered malnourished if their z-score of
either height-for-age (stunting) or weight-for-age (underweight) is below minus two standard
deviations from the median of the World Health Organization 2006 reference population. In a
majority of the countries, BMI-for-age covered people aged 15 to19 years, as anthropometric data
was only available for this age group; if other data were available, BMI-for-age was applied for all
individuals above 5 years and under 20 years. ++ Data source for age children start primary school:
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, Institute for Statistics database,

* A household is considered to have access to improved sanitation if it has some type of flush toilet
or latrine, or ventilated improved pit or composting toilet, provided that they are not shared. If
survey report uses other definitions of ‘adequate’ sanitation, we follow the survey report.

** A household has access to clean drinking water if the water source is any of the following types:
piped water, public tap, borehole or pump, protected well, protected spring or rainwater, and it is
within a 30-minute walk (round trip). If survey report uses other definitions of ‘safe’ drinking water,
we follow the survey report.

*** Deprived if floor is made of mud/clay/earth, sand or dung; or if dwelling has no roof or walls or
if either the roof or walls are constructed using natural materials such as cane, palm/trunks,
sod/mud, dirt, grass/reeds, thatch, bamboo, sticks, or rudimentary materials such as carton,
plastic/ polythene sheeting, bamboo with mud/stone with mud, loosely packed stones, uncovered
adobe, raw/reused wood, plywood, cardboard, unburnt brick or canvas/tent.

Year 2017
Year 2018

Rural Poverty
Discussing rural poverty is a far from poverty in general perspective. The target of this idea is
concentrated in a smaller scale of the topic. We can never understand rural poverty without
defining the word “rural”.

What is a Rural Area?

 The Department of Health and Human Services of the United States of America defines the
word as geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Additionally, whatever is
not urban is not a rural.
 A typical rural area have a low population density (a measurement of population per unit
area or unit volume; it is a quantity of type number density. It is frequently applied to living
organisms, and most of the time to humans. It is a key geographical term.) and small
settlements. Agricultural areas are commonly rural, as are other types of areas such
as forest. Different countries have varying definitions of rural for statistical and
administrative purposes.

Combing this word to another concept –Poverty- will create another meaning and perspective.
Rural poverty refers to hindrances and challenges faced in rural areas that includes: society,
economy, political systems

Contributing factors of Rural Poverty

 Lack of infrastructure- Infrastructure is one of the reasons why a certain economy has the
capacity to boost its own. Rural areas tend to lack in sufficient roads that would increase
access to agricultural inputs and markets. Poor infrastructure also hinders communication
resulting to social isolation.
 Geographical Barriers – natural resources most of the time delays the development of a
certain area. I.e. Mountain range, waters, etc.
 Insufficient access to markets – poor productivity to suffice the needs of the people
residing in the place.
 Lack of non-motorised load carrying wheeled vehicles (handcarts and wheelbarrows)-
lack of mobility obstructs human progress.
 Education and social Service Inadequacies-Limited knowledge and education promotes
limited opportunities. It results to mediocre living.

Who are the Rural Poor?

 The Food and Agricultural Organizations (FAO) categorized the
rural poor as:
a. Family farmers, subsistence producers, or landless
agricultural workers
b. Increasingly dependent on non-farm incomes.
c. Without social protection

Rural poverty has persisted where policies:

1) Did not pay sufficient attention to improving agricultural productivity and rural services and
infrastructure,
2) Failed to provide rural populations with access to social services and social protection,
3) Neglected the development of rural producer and consumer organizations, and
4) Ignored women’s specific challenges in accessing productive resources and social services.

Urban Poverty
Tracing the idea of poverty in urban areas is not that dissimilar to the concept of rural poverty.
Causes, reasons and measurements are the same. However, this is just measured in a larger scale.

In the study of the Asian Development Bank (2014), Urbanization is an Accordingly, great
number of migrations from rural areas plays a pivotal role in poverty decline by providing
 opportunities and jobs that are not offered and experience in these places. Yet, growing
populations in urban areas such as cities is a phenomenon that is not acknowledged.
Populations in these areas think that better life could be offered. As time passed by,
increasing poverty incidents are also occurring. Unlike rural 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. Most Asian economies are struggling with complex urban
problems, associated with different forms of poverty, deprivation, vulnerability, and risks.

Further studies by Baharoglu, D. and Kessides C. (2001), presented the urban poverty matrix to
better understand the dimensions of Urban Poverty.

Dimensions of Visible causes or Policy-related causes Impacts on other

Poverty contributing factors dimensions of poverty
Income  Dependence on cash  Macroeconomic  Inability to
for purchases of crises reduce real afford housing
essential goods and incomes and land, thus,
services ·  Failure of public underdevelope
 Employment services such as d physical
insecurity/casual education, health, capital assets ·
work · infrastructure,  Inability to
 Unskilled wage transport to serve afford
labor/lack of the urban poor · adequate
qualifications to get  Regulatory quality and
well-paid jobs constraints on quantity of
 Inability to hold a small enterprises essential public
job due to bad perpetuate services e.g.,
health · “informality” of water, thus
 Lack of access to job work available to unhygienic
opportunities (urban the poor, living
poor often have to discourage asset conditions and
trade off between accumulation and depreciated
distances to jobs and access to credits, health
costs of housing) and increase  Poor human
vulnerability of capital—bad
workers health and
educational
outcomes due
to stress, food
insecurity, and
inability to
afford
education and
 health services ·
 Depreciated
social capital
resulting in
domestic
violence and
crime
Health  Overcrowded and  Land and housing  · Inability to
unhygienic living regulations can hold a job
conditions. · make proper  Inability to
 Residential housing earn sufficient
environments are unaffordable and income
prone to industrial result in living in  Reduced ability
and traffic pollution disaster-prone and of children to
due to juxtaposition polluted areas · learn due to
of residential and  Bad policy illness (e.g.,
industrial functions frameworks and lead poisoning)
in cities failure of public  Risk of injury
 The poor in cities services such as and associated
settle on marginal environmental and income shocks ·
lands, which are healthrelated  Poor education
prone to services (water outcomes
environmental and sewerage,
hazards, such as solid waste
landslides and floods disposal, drainage,
 Exposure to diseases vector control) to
due to poor quality keep pace with
air, water, and lack population growth
of sanitation  Lack of labor
 Injury and deaths protection (worker
rising from traffic · safety)
 Industrial  Poor traffic
occupational risks— management and
unsafe working pedestrian
conditions, facilities
especially for those  Lack of safety nets
in informal sector and social support
jobs systems for
families and youth
Education  · Constrained access  Incapacity of  Inability to get
to education due public authorities a job ·
insufficient school to provide for  Lack of
sizes in rapidly adequate constructive
growing cities · classroom and activity for
 Inability to afford school sizes. · school age
school expenses ·  Lack of safety nets youth,
 Personal to ensure ability to contributing to
 safety/security risks stay in school delinquency ·
deterring school despite family  Continued
attendance economic gender
hardships · inequities
 Insecure and
unaffordable
public transport
Security Tenure insecurity  Land policies do  Evictions that
Land and housing in not make cause loss of
authorized areas are not sufficient physical capital,
affordable; therefore, developed land damage social
the poor typically build available for the and informal
or rent on public or poor · networks for
private property. Houses  Land policies do jobs and safety
lack proper construction not permit nets, and
and tend to be in unsafe regularization of reduce sense of
areas prone to natural tenure in most security ·
hazards. unauthorized  Inability to use
settlements. · one’s home as
Personal insecurity  Inappropriate a source of
 Drug/alcohol standards and income—such
abuse and codes make as renting a
domestic housing room; creating
violence · unaffordable. · extra space for
 Family  Regulations income
breakdown and impose costly and generating
reduced support cumbersome activities, etc.
for children · procedures to get  Diminished
 Social diversity registered or to physical and
and visible obtain occupancy mental health
income permits. · and low
inequality in  Lack of access to earnings ·
cities, which credit  Damage/loss to
increases  Lack of property and
tensions and can employment increased costs
provide a opportunities, for protection
temptation for services, and and health care
crime. assets (both  Depreciated
communal and social capital
personal) such as loss of
stigmatize certain family cohesion
areas within cities and social
as centers of crime isolation
and desolation. ·
 Lack of safety net
policies and
programs
Empowerment  Illegitimacy of  Regulatory and  Lack of access
residence and policy frameworks to urban
work · (for service services ·
 Isolation of provision, housing  Sense of
communities and land, and isolation and
that are income generating powerlessness ·
disconnected activities) make  Violence ·
from jobs and the settlements  Inefficient use
services · and/or of personal
 Insufficient occupations of the time and
channels of poor “informal” or money to seek
information for “illegal”. This alternative
obtaining jobs, denies them the forms of
knowing one’s same rights as redress, e.g.,
legal rights to other urban payment of
services, etc. · citizens. · bribes
 Not having the  Oppressive
rights and bureaucracy and
responsibilities corruption ·
of citizens  Official or
unofficial
discrimination

As the above matrix indicates, urban poverty is often characterized by cumulative deprivations: one
dimension of poverty is often the cause of or contributor to another dimension, as illustrated
below.
 Cumulative Impacts of Urban Poverty

Lack of access to
Inability to
credits for
afford adequate
business or
housing
house

Lack of employment;
inability to have a Sense of Tenure insecurity,
regular job, lack of insecurity, evictions, loss of
regular income and isolation, and small savings
social security disempowerment invested in housing

Unhygienic living
Poor health,
conditions, low-
poor education
quality public
services

Calculating urban poverty internationally is a must to ascertain the over-all level of poverty as well
as to differentiate trends within regions and urban areas. Determining locational variations would
be of great help to provide immediate interventions to this parts with greatest levels of
deprivations.

Poverty in Asia
Asia is the home of a vast population and land area. With this, a lot of implications were faced. It is
the home of nearly half of the world’s poorest people. According to World Bank’s report in 2016,
of the 766 million extremely poor who live below the poverty line of US$1.9 (HK$15) a day, about
33% live in South Asia and 9% live in East Asia and the Pacific. While most of the developing world’s
poor live in rural areas, the proportion of the poor living in urban areas is increasing. In Asia, the
number of urban poor has risen in several countries. It is obvious that urban poverty appears to be
a growing challenge Asia has to face as the economy becomes more prosperous and urbanized.
Despite the economic achievement, still, Asia rests as the worst continent for worldwide starvation.
The Borgen project organization consolidated 13 specifics about paucity in the said region that
everyone should know:
1. Urban Poor
 In 2017, 75 million people were living below the poverty line of $ 3.10 that placed them at
high disaster risk. The following countries make up the most of East Asia’s urban poor:
China, Indonesia and the Philippines.

2. Hunger
This is one of the major problems in the continent that due to lack of proper nutrition,
approximately 100 million children in Asia are underdeveloped which cover the 28 percent
of the totality of the young population. Moreover, about 519.6 million people do not have
enough food to eat in Asia, and a prominent 70 percent of world’s malnourished children
live on the eastern continent.

3. Average Income
Afghanistan had the bottommost yearly income not only in Asia but also in the world at $
1,100 annually.

4. Sanitation
According to this source, this is the second biggest cause of death among children under
the age of five. Diarrheal diseases is the result of improper sanitation facilities that about
two of every people in East Asia was deprived to this aspect that open defecation is still
practiced by 130 million people throughout the countries in the said region.

5. Women
The two-thirds of Asia’s population were discriminated in the field of education and work
that resulted to a significant amount of poverty in Asia.

6. Rice
Asians mostly depend their lives to rice and it has been a major source of energy for them.
Decline of rice scales due to natural phenomena and population growth has an outcome of
poverty.

7. Children
To cope with the challenges of life, child labor is very much practiced in the countries
around Asia. Children are exposed in physical work that placed them at high risk.

8. Natural Disaster and Climate Change

According to World Vision, Asia Pacific is the most disaster-prone region in the world that
hindrance the people to live in a prosperous way. Some of the consequences of the
geographical location are floods, earthquakes, extreme temperatures, storms, wildfires and
droughts that affect the source of life.

9. Government
Over 60 percent of Asian Pacific countries scored below 50 on Transparency International’s
Corruption Perceptions Index in the year 2015. This shows a severe problem on corruption.

10. Organic Farming

Offering a means of generating more income, organic farming presents opportunity, but for
those who can afford it. For small farmers, certification is costly and is not in the name or
 control of the farmer who is paying for the form. This diminishes potential commitment or
interest in organic farming.

11. Rural Poor

In many regions across Asia, up to 90 percent of poor people live in rural areas. Poor rural
households usually have larger families who are underemployed and are less educated.
Access to credit and technology is limited.

12. Minorities
In Vietnam, ethnic groups make up around 12 million of the 90 million population, but
account for over two-fifths of the country’s poverty. These inequalities fuel the poverty in
Asia.

13. Education
Many students attending primary school in South Asia are taught on rote bases. This leads
to many weakened skills such as problem solving, writing grammatically correct sentences
and measuring. In 2014, studies showed that “one quarter to one third of those who
graduate from primary school lack basic numeracy and literacy skills that would enable
them to further their education.”

With these essential information about poverty in Asia, it is then clear that countries in the region
experience varied heights of poverty. With optimism and faith, if these were realized and reflected
by the people and the administrators, at least it will create a positive impact that will make them
move to establish a stronger poverty reduction policy that must be implemented strictly.

Poorest Nations
In this section, GDP per capita is used to measure the standard of living of a certain country for it
reflects the average wealth of each person residing in the country. Consensus forecasts of the 900
world renowned banks and professional economic forecasting firms were lifted to assure the
validity of the result of the study. These firms decided to take a look on the GDP per Capita of the
126 countries all over the world for the year 2018 and have made a projection in the year 2022 to
get the idea of what countries are the poorest currently and which will be making a leap toward
becoming wealthier in the coming years.

GDP Per Capita 2016-2022

2018 Country GDP per GDP per 2016 GDP per 2022
Rank Cap 2018 Cap Rank Cap 2022 Rank
(projected) 2016 (projected)
(Actual)
1 DRC 468.2076 440.9842 2 631.9861 2

2 Mozambique 485.6679 383.1195 1 578.8407 1

3 Uganda 737.8687 694.2869 3 897.6487 3

4 Tajikistan 835.9737 806.0073 6 1085.773 4

5 Haiti 873.9934 705.3676 4 1153.522 5

6 Ethiopia 938.1304 883.8655 7 1253.024 6

7 Yemen 998.4961 761.088 5 1501.568 9

8 Uzbekistan 1025.504 2144.655 22 1646.637 10

9 Tanzania 1112.21 975.859 8 1362.394 7

10 Kyrgyzstan 1221.712 1080.689 9 1446.402 8

11 Myanmar 1432.801 1231.791 10 2134.979 15

12 Zambia 1461.506 1299.422 12 1665.591 11

13 Cambodia 1494.199 1268.826 11 1967.887 12

14 Pakistan 1609.103 1465.591 14 2004.865 13

15 Bangladesh 1618.685 1371.748 13 2374.252 18

16 CDI 1737.16 1517.963 15 2279.192 17

17 Kenya 1761.482 1557.898 17 2092.147 14

18 Ghana 1767.604 1539.536 16 2245.091 16

19 India 2174.133 1742.058 18 3087.243 21

20 Nigeria 2216.672 1975.526 20 2670.87 20

21 Nicaragua 2276.476 2151.236 23 2643.961 19

22 Egypt 2497.835 3689.49 34 3666.88 27

23 Vietnam 2566.532 2109.914 21 3412.303 23

24 Moldova 2616.058 1924.746 19 3511.613 24

25 Ukraine 2638.074 2169.044 24 3576.092 26

26 Laos 2689.059 2400.304 25 3535.01 25

27 Honduras 2834.203 2631.252 26 3157.905 22

28 Philippines 3164.74 2926.438 27 4378.544 31

29 Bolivia 3398.316 3113.914 29 4045.165 30

30 Morocco 3399.481 3011.579 28 3968.448 29

31 Tunisia 3552.575 3719.063 35 3864.81 28

32 Armenia 3941.751 3578.193 31 4908.447 35

33 Mongolia 3980.608 4075.311 41 5940.182 43

34 Algeria 4094.787 3903.194 38 4508.672 32

35 Indonesia 4109.704 3605.222 32 5439.364 39

36 Azerbaijan 4153.154 3507.727 30 5658.588 42

37 Georgia 4198.04 3946.083 39 5993.943 44

38 Sri Lanka 4282.559 3811.488 37 5544.294 40

39 Venezuela 4368.119 4778 48 4925.365 36

40 Iraq 4436.796 4547.616 46 5046.504 37

41 Kosovo 4495.335 3672.294 33 6024.757 45

42 El Salvador 4509.722 4226.656 44 5135.928 38

43 Paraguay 4516.276 3991.964 40 6169.961 46

44 Belize 4651.313 4630.585 47 4799.132 33

45 Guatemala 4703.326 4125.903 42 5548.938 41

46 Angola 4725.743 3721.601 36 4903.343 34

47 Albania 5192.632 4142.339 43 6824.766 50

48 Bosnia 5209.645 4517.359 45 6757.568 48

49 Jamaica 5374.142 4968.894 50 6209.366 47

50 Iran 5727.839 5231.508 52 7048.236 52

51 Jordan 5904.414 5541.111 55 6768.028 49

52 Belarus 5979.214 4914.952 49 7400.126 54

53 Macedonia 6112.687 5212.371 51 8016.382 56

54 Ecuador 6140.741 5966.118 57 6850.166 51

55 South Africa 6342.13 5335.191 53 7127.819 53

56 Colombia 6671.489 5800.91 56 7880.529 55

57 Serbia 6755.329 5446.652 54 9017.78 59

58 Thailand 6965.455 5969.76 58 8322.678 57

59 Peru 7049.746 6178.552 59 8361.598 58

60 Dominican 7334.704 6766.407 60 9159.166 60

Republic

61 Turkmenistan 7456.266 6921.015 61 10311.37 62

62 Botswana 8512.711 7297.961 63 9574.504 61

63 Montenegro 8585.437 7022.697 62 10909.39 63

64 Bulgaria 9210.746 7507.744 64 12281.7 66

65 Kazakhstan 9374.124 7852.118 65 11848.74 65

66 Mexico 9706.379 8796.565 68 12668.89 67

67 China 9766.357 8103.066 66 13108.97 68

68 Brazil 10199.39 8720.176 67 11815.55 64

69 Turkey 10941.74 10805.09 73 14012.61 71

70 Costa Rica 10969.64 10666.89 72 13223.71 69

71 Malaysia 11093.39 9427.831 70 14580.94 72

72 Romania 11600.14 9510.628 71 16486.5 74

73 Russia 11664.74 8933.798 69 13570.09 70

74 Lebanon 12385.41 11292.64 74 15060.66 73

75 Croatia 14729.96 12230.22 75 18340.22 77

76 Argentina 14881.05 12507 77 17082.55 75

77 Hungary 15774.98 12822.99 78 20664.73 81

78 Panama 15793.39 14322.74 81 19630.67 79

79 Chile 15796.06 13585.68 79 19124.89 78

80 Poland 15953.16 12412.96 76 21438.44 82

81 Trinidad 16784.46 16091.78 84 20259.31 80

82 Oman 16848.18 16646.1 86 18020.52 76

83 Latvia 17590.22 14032.5 80 23129.31 83

84 Uruguay 18264.38 14942.53 83 23457.4 84

85 Lithuania 18955.37 14942.53 82 25487.88 87

86 Slovakia 19741.33 16549.46 85 25499.87 88

87 Greece 20600.22 17919.14 88 25042.87 86

88 Saudi Arabia 21814.52 20312.95 91 24865.64 85

89 Estonia 22408.15 17793.45 87 29662.79 91

90 Portugal 23472.93 19893.46 90 28456.84 89

91 Czech Republic 24150.93 18552.02 89 31987.27 94

92 Bahrain 25876.4 24305.31 95 29496.51 90

93 Taiwan 25950 22628.72 93 29862.84 92

94 Kuwait 26193.48 26231.85 97 30496.88 93

95 Slovenia 26332.4 21719.96 92 33070.55 96

96 Cyprus 27628.76 23702.83 94 33157.46 97

97 Brunei 27631.4 26958.03 99 32456.92 95

98 Puerto Rico 30785.55 30790.08 101 38609.33 99

99 Malta 31222.64 25368.66 96 39689.85 101

100 Spain 31684.34 26730.29 98 38722.39 100

101 Korea 32116.98 27534.89 100 38501.28 98

102 Italy 34964.68 30790.56 102 40963.66 103

103 UAE 35810.02 35378.11 103 40613.18 102

104 Japan 39326.88 39189.51 107 45250.71 104

105 New Zealand 42296.78 39075.31 106 47555.63 106

106 Israel 42605.59 37092.17 104 47541.27 105

107 United Kingdom 42712.54 40535.31 108 51243.24 107

108 France 43533.1 38236.2 105 51427.33 108

109 Hong Kong 47094.64 43544.18 112 55478.03 110

110 Canada 47584.47 42409.73 111 53768.91 109

111 Belgium 47980.08 41551.59 109 56380.1 111

112 Germany 49082.64 42270.89 110 59385.92 112

113 Finland 50559.41 43557.5 113 60133.76 113

114 Austria 52284.4 44907.32 114 62176.49 114

115 Netherlands 53339.85 45746.92 115 64251.35 115

116 Australia 57432.85 51899.34 117 66695.32 116

117 Singapore 58090.72 55163.19 119 67629.88 117

118 Sweden 58429.58 51480.74 116 73332.43 121

119 Qatar 59074.09 58211.29 121 72813.63 120

120 Denmark 60789.46 53907.48 118 71931.15 119

121 United States 62009.81 57607.78 120 70437.55 118

122 Ireland 77182.55 64907.43 123 93344.89 123

123 Iceland 77314.73 59523.81 122 95788.6 124

124 Norway 79214.45 70875.86 124 101150.4 125

125 Switzerland 82188.71 81245.83 125 90239.11 122

126 Luxembourg 117274.8 102230.9 126 136074.3 126

In this report, most of the countries in Asia were included in this list of poverty. To take a look in a
nearer perspective, picked from the source of the worldlist mania, they presented top 20 poorest
nations in Asia.

Rank Country GDP per Capita Population

1 North Korea $ 1 800 25 155 317
2 Afghanistan $ 2 000 33 332 025
3 Yemen $ 2 467 25 408 000
4 Nepal $ 2 573 25 825 709
5 Tajikistan $ 3 146 8 481 855
6 Bangladesh $ 3 581 163 187 000
7 Kyrgystan $ 3 699 6 019 480
8 Cambodia $ 4 022 15 957 223
9 Pakistan $ 5 374 207 774 520
10 Myanmar $ 5 773 51 486 253
11 Laos $ 6 115 6 803 699
12 Vietnam $ 6 925 92 700 000
13 Uzbekistan $ 7 023 32 979 000
14 Mongolia $ 7 023 32 979 000
15 India $ 7 153 1 326 572 000
16 Bhutan $ 8 762 742 737
17 Georgia $ 10 100 3 720 400
 18 Jordan $ 11 124 9 952 293
19 Indonesia $ 12 432 263 510 000
20 Sri Lanka $ 13 012 21 203 000

In this data, poverty across Asia is distributed among its regions.

Poverty Situations in Selected Asian

Nations
A lot of realizations could be grasped in studying poverty. This is an occurrence in
someone’s life that cannot be totally eradicated. So, we should make an effort to at least minimize
the said problem.
Some nations listed in the table above will be studied closely for us to understand and
compare the causes of poverty in one place and to the other.

1. North Korea (NK)

Listed as number one by the worldlist mania, it is important to zoom in the factors affecting the
nation’s progress. NK is a communist state, meaning, they just based merely on its
independent income and products to support the life of the people. Its totalitarian form of
government might be one of the reasons why this is the poorest nation in Asia. Here are some
facts about poverty in the country:
a. The Poverty Line – 24 million people that covered 40 percent of its population, live below
poverty line. Most of their workers earn $ 2 to $ 3 per month. Since early 1980s, standard
of living deteriorated and average life expectancies have fallen.
b. Food Shortages – The tons of rice cannot suffice the millions of people living in its territory.
This resulted to a widespread famine that according to the study conducted by the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organizations, the food crises resulted in thousands of
deaths. Children in the country were stunted. Aside from this, the “two meals a day”
campaign of the government lead to food riots.
c. Right to Health is denied - Although, the country declared that medical care is free,
residents still denied in this aspect unless they can pay the expensive price for medicine
d. Military programs use most of the funds – the country concentrated much on the military
stability and nuclear weapons to ensure the security that it came to the point that
economic problems were disregarded. In 2001, the country spent 5 billion on military
spending alone which is more than 30 percent of its GDP.
e. Corruption – According to the 2011 corruption index from the Transparency International,
NK is world’s most corrupt country. Leaders in the country live in a luxury that they do
counterfeiting and other illegal endeavors.
2. Afghanistan-
 In some sources, Afghanistan is ranked as number one as the poorest nation Asia. But in the
data provided above, it landed second. Some of the causes distributing to its economic
challenges were as follows:
a. Food insecurity and lack of social security – According to Aryana Aid, 50 percent of Afghan
children were stunted and 20 percent of their women of child-bearing age are malnourish.
Moreover, food is also distributed unequally in places where there are heavy wars.
b. Accessibility to clean water – approximately half of the people living in both urban and rural
places has not access to clean water.
c. War – This is considered as the main factor contributing to poverty wherein 55 to 70
percent population is living in miserable life in the worst-hit-zones.
d. Literacy rate- Because of the bad situation in the country, education is disregarded that
resulted to only 28 percent of the Afghan population is considered literate.
e. Unemployment – The state of poverty is worsening due to unavailability of jobs for the
people.
3. Cambodia
Number eight in the list of worldmania, a lot of contributors have been studied by the borgen
project, data about the research are the following:
a. Based on the data collection this year, a percentage of 14 percent of their population sits
below the national poverty line that makes them as the fourth poorest nation in Southeast
Asia.
b. Between 2000 to 2010, Cambodian GDP has grown at an average annual rate of at least
more than eight percent and such improvement are because of tourism, garments,
construction and agriculture. All of which have offered thousands of jobs to its citizens,
However, despite of its achievements, economic development is still hindered by the
nation’s deep rooted corruption.
c. The necessity of infrastructure was not prioritized by the Cambodian government. With
this, according to studies, only 24 percent of them have the access to electricity, 64 percent
to clean water and 31 percent to ample sanitation. Hospitals are also low-quality.
d. Another reason as to why Cambodia suffers poverty is the lack of education. Due to
practicality and economic reasons, basic needs such as food and shelter were prioritized.
e. History of cruelty under Pol Pot’s regime that make Cambodian people hard to recover. In
this horrific event in the late 1970s, almost 2 million were killed.
4. Nepal
According to the world bank, 15 percent of the population of the country lived below $1.90 a
day poverty line in the year 2010, and the estimation for 2017 is 10.8 % which qualified as rank
four poorest nation in Asia. Here are some data about the poverty situation in the country of
Nepal:
a. The earthquake aftermath in 2015, which claimed 5000 lives and destroyed the livelihoods
of millions, obstructs the progress of the people. Industries and agriculture were
devastated because of this disaster.
b. Agricultural situations and Feudalistic land system – the country based mostly its life in
agriculture but 24.4 % of households do not own any land. Feudal elites manipulated this
 poor people in terms of low wages. In the country, 85 %of the population is involved in
agricultural activities as its main source of survival. However, traditional way has been
continued, instead of adopting the modern and scientific way for a reason that the state
has a failure in providing necessary trainings and equipment to the farmers.
c. High population growth rate but low economic progress – The population of the country
grows 2.24% annually. If this pattern of growth continues, Nepal’s population will be
doubled for the next years. With this, growing unemployment and underemployment will
also be experienced.
5. Philippines
Although, Philippines is not included in the list of top 10 poorest nations, it is still a must to
study the country to have a comparison to the events experience by the different nation.
Philippines is one of the most gifted countries in terms of natural resources and can be used for
economic improvement. However, what is the main problem? What causes the difficulty?
Philippines is referred as “the tiger economy” for the last few decades, because the
performance of its economy is fascinating. But the obvious reasons of its poverty situation are
the following:
a. High inflation rate – The probable reason of the high prices in the country is the Tax Reform
and Inclusion Law (TRAIN) Law that resulted to a major shift in the lives of the people. It’s
as if that there is a domino effect that placed the country into a big problem: The price hike
of sugar-contained products, gasoline and many more. These are basic needs of the people.
All people are consumers. The standard of living is continuously raising but the stairs to
economic progress is still close and stagnant.
b. Corruption – Many from the officials of the country cannot be trusted for they are all
opportunists and voracious thieves. To support the claim, it is very evident in the
newspapers and other media that the issue about corruption cannot be eradicated. Many
of them were impeached.
c. Incidents of crime and human rights violations – Contents of the news every day is all about
crime and violations of the human rights such as the extra judicial killing, human trafficking
and illegal drug businesses. Tourism is threatened as well as international partnership for
economic progress.

Data about the poverty situations of the different nations have similarities and differences.
However, it is clear that this occurrence must be stopped and totally eradicated for the lives of the
people is at high risk.

Problems and Challenges

brought by Poverty
In studying the concepts and nature of poverty, lives of the
people are the main concern. If this problematic matter will
continue persist, what will happen to the next years of our
existence? It is a realization to everyone that poverty is like a virus that if not cured it may be
transferred to another and can slay many lives. Complications and trials are faced every day. We
cannot do away with it. Here are some problems and challenges brought by poverty:
 Children and the Future
Youth is referred as the hope of tomorrow. If they will be exposed to the cruelty of life and
they were not taught how to cope with it, there is a big doubt if they could change the
future generations if they cannot solve their own problems. Children of today tend to be
fragile. If poverty continues in existing, the next generations of minority might perish.
 Health and Medical Concerns
People living in a despondent life cannot afford health care that may result to life-
threatening diseases. Children with low stamina will most likely experience the danger.
Intelligent people refer health as the major wealth of a person. High number of physical,
behavioral and cognitive illnesses will be experienced if poverty is not catered.
 Lack of Education
According to research, Children exposed to an extreme poverty have difficulty in cognition,
communication, management of stress which leads to hostile behavior. There is a direct
parallelism between low academic achievement and poverty.
 Crime and Victimization
Due to the demand of living, crime will be surely activated. Global unemployment will be at
its highest point that will make the people extract all the means just to live. Lack of
economic stability will lead to murder, prostitution and any dangerous means. As our
modern society depicts, these events are very evident due to the gradual increase of
poverty rates in the world.

Life in this world is very challenging. Everything changes. So, we must learn to adopt and adapt in
order to live. Life is precious and we should find a reason to live. Appreciate the beauty of this gift.
 Activity: Survey and Interview
This is an activity intended to first-handily experience gather information about the causes and
effects of poverty. The interviewers must form their group with five members. After accomplishing
the needed data, questions will be answered and synthesized by the group.
a. The group will trace three families with low level of income that experience high level of
poverty ;
b. Let the interviewee fill-out the interview sheet;
c. Capture some documentations for attachment; and
d. Analyze and compare the data answered by the interviewees.

Interview Sheet
Family Name: ________________________________________________
Address: ____________________________________________________
Number of members in the family: _________________
Source of Income: _______________________________
Average daily income: ____________________________
Questions:
1. What are the things that you needed the most in the family that you find difficulty in
addressing?
2. What are the main causes of challenges that you experience?
3. How do you address this concern?
4. If you have one wish to the President and he will surely grant this, what is it and why?

Documentations

Data analysis (to be accomplished by the group interviewer)

1. Of the three families, what are the commonalities and differences as to the causes of
poverty?
2. Which among these three families you consider as the poorest? Why?
3. If you will be given the chance to become the Philippine President, which among these
three families are you going to prioritize? Why?
4. Make a platform or policies to cater the poverty situation in the country.
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 http://www.childtrends.org/Files//Child_Trends2009_04_07_RB_ChildreninPoverty.pdf.
 https://www.worldvision.org.hk/en/learn/poverty-in-asia
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 https://www.focus-economics.com/blog/the-poorest-countries-in-the-world