Poverty Term Paper

Words: 4741
Pages: 19

Outline

I. Introduction A. Significance of the Study B. What is Poverty? C. History of Poverty in the Philippines D. Demographics of Poverty

II. Entrenched factors associated with poverty A. Colonial Histories B. Centralization of Power C. Corruption D. Warfare E. Environmental degradation F. Social Inequality

III. Lethal and Long-term Effect of Poverty A. Health B. Education C. Housing D. Violence E. Substance/Drug Abuse

IV. Poverty Diminution/Reduction A. Holistic Approach B. Economic Liberalization
…show more content…
The proportion of the population below the subsistence level, however, declined from approximately 35 percent in 1971 to 28 percent in 1985. The economic turndown in the early 1980s and the economic and political crisis of 1983 had a devastating impact on living standards.
The countryside contained a disproportionate share of the poor. For example, more than 80 percent of the poorest 30 percent of families in the Philippines lived in rural areas in the mid-1980s. The majority were tenant farmers or landless agricultural workers. The landless, fishermen, and forestry workers were found to be the poorest of the poor. In some rural regions--the sugar-growing region on the island of Negros being the most egregious example--there was a period in which malnutrition and famine had been widespread.
Urban areas also were hard hit, with the incidence of urban poverty increasing between 1971 and 1985 by 13 percentage points to include half the urban population. The urban poor generally lived in crowded slum areas, often on land or in buildings without permission of the owner; hence, they were referred to as squatters. These settlements often lacked basic necessities such as running water, sewerage, and electricity. According to a 1984 government study, 44 percent of all occupied dwellings in Metro Manila had less than thirty square meters of living area, and the average monthly expenditure of an urban poor family was P1,315. Of this, 62 percent was spent on food