Revisiting family income and expenditures: A better way to understand poverty issues, concerns

THE issues on poverty have arrested the attention of so many researchers who dealt with a number of studies that resulted to innumerable theories, methodologies and findings. For instance, the Global Development Research Center (http:// www.gdrc.org/icm/povertycauses.htm) in its compilation of article on the causes of poverty and related issues presented two types of poverty: Individual and Aggregate. The former is explained by individual circumstances and/or characteristics of people such as amount of education, skill, experience, intelligence, health, handicaps, age, work orientation, time horizon, culture of poverty and discrimination, together with race, sex, and others. The latter is explained by two types of aggregate poverty theory: case and generic. According to case theories of poverty, aggregate poverty is just the sum of individual poverty, whereas the generic illustrates that poverty is explained by general, economy-wide problems, such as inadequate non-poverty employment opportunities, inadequate overall demand (macro problems, macro policy), and low national income (Less Developed Country). However, layman's concept equates poverty with the condition of low or slowly rising income that could not cope with costs that have risen fast or if not faster through inflation and rapid population growth. This gives people the impression that the levels of income and consumption are critical to determining who is poor. For Mr. Juan de la Cruz, being poor is knowing exactly how much everything costs, because you have to budget your income against your expenditure. The quality of poverty estimates relies heavily on the data sources. One of the sources of data for poverty estimation in the Philippines is the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES). The FIES is the source of detailed information on income and expenditures of Filipino families. The National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) is in charge of releasing the official poverty statistics that are based on (per Capita) income data sourced from the FIES. The FIES is a nationwide survey of households undertaken by the National Statistics Office. It is the main source of data on family income and expenditures. Total family income includes primary income and receipts from other sources received by all family members during the reference period as participants in any economic activity (either as laborer, proprietor, capitalist or entrepreneur) or as recipients of transfers, pensions & grants, among others. On the other hand, family expenditures refer to the expenses or disbursements made by the family purely for personal consumption during the reference year. These excludes all expenses in relation to farm or business operations, investments ventures, purchase of real property and other disbursements which do not involve personal consumption. What is the status of the family income and expenditures of Northern Mindanao compared to national figures? In 2009, the average annual family income of Filipino families in Northern Mindanao was posted at P165 thousand which was 16.2 percent higher than the 2006 estimated average of P142 thousand. Similarly the national figure also manifested an increase of 19.1%, that is, from 173 thousands in 2006 to 206 thousands in 2009. Adjusting to the inflation rate between 2006 and 2009, the average annual family income in 2009 posted at P165 thousand would be valued at P98 thousand at 2000 prices. However, there is a big disparity in the average income between the bottom 40 percent and the upper 60 percent. The average income for the bottom 40% is 55 thousand while the average income for the upper 60% is 238 thousand. On the national scope, interesting but frustrating data on family expenditures reveal that poor families spent 64 thousand annually on the average which is surprisingly two thousand pesos more than their average annual income. In contrast, families in the upper 70 percent income group spent 224 thousand pesos a year, on the average; hence, could generate savings of 44 thousand pesos in a year, on the average. With regard the Northern Mindanao data, there is a savings of 43 thousand pesos in a year, on the average, for the upper 60% income group which spent 195 thousand pesos in a year, on the average. However, in the bottom 40% income group, they spent all what they have earned such that they did not have any savings at all. Nevertheless, combining all income groups, a savings of 26 thousand was noted in 2009. The 2009 Gini Coefficient was recorded at .4737 in Northern Mindanao down by 1.4 percent from .4806 in 2006. A lower gini coefficient indicates a movement towards a more equal income distribution among families.

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Looking through one's lens

MY several readings on macroeconomics of labor markets reveal one reality, that is, the need for more studies that will address basically all sectors of the society. For instance, the study conducted by Sergiy Stetsenko of the University of Pennsylvania (2010) shows the change in behavior of fertility rate at business cycle frequencies in the United States between the 1970s and 1990s and it further shows how the cyclical and secular properties of fertility can be used to distinguish among several proposed theories that account for the rise in labor force participation of married mothers. Another study by Marion Warmuth (2007) deals with managing the aging work force and it discusses the challenges arising from it. It shows that the prejudices and discrimination attached to older employees such as being resistant to new approaches or new technologies and being less productive can be managed through changing the mindset of employers and the company culture. It also supports findings of a survey of a research institute that elderly are able to manage difficult situations through their routine and experience and up-to-date knowledge and education. So what is the bottom line? What I want to put across in this article is the realization that while it is true that the National Statistics Office is periodically conducting the Labor Force Survey, there is a corresponding need for researchers - be it from the corporate world or the academe- to use the NSO data as take-off point for further studies. It is not enough to obtain LFS data that gives number of employed, unemployed , or underemployed, it is also vital to see through one's lens the perspectives and consequences of a given situation and given set of data through research. What is this Labor Force Survey (LFS) ? The LFS aims to provide a quantitative framework for the preparation of plans and formulation of policies affecting the labor market. Specifically, the survey is designed to provide statistics on levels and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment for the country, as a whole, and for each of the administrative regions, including provinces and key cities.The LFS has undergone changes in its questionnaire design starting in July 1987 where modifications in the concepts and definitions for measuring labor force and employment characteristics were adopted. The design is based on a past week reference period and new concept of availability and looking for work is adopted. With regard the concept, the Labor Force or Economically Active Population refers to population 15 years old and over who are either employed or unemployed. On the other hand, Persons Not in the Labor Force are those persons who are not looking for work because of reasons such as housekeeping ,schooling, etc. Examples are housewives, students, disabled or retired persons. For most part, statistics have been limited to the socio-economic data at the national level. It is very evident though that there is the need for information at the local level. In this regard, the LFS sample design has been drawn in such a way that accurate lower level classification would be possible. How are we going to look at the inputs of the LFS? For more effective application, it is preferable to look at the latest results- the July 2012 Labor Force Survey (LFS), which can be easily compared with the July 2011 data. Translating this set of data into figures, we would be looking at an estimated 63.1 million population aged 15 years and over with an employment rate of 93.0 per cent (almost the same with the 92.9 percent in July 2011), unemployment rate of 7.0 percent and an underemployment rate of 22.7 per cent. Among the unemployed persons, there were more males (62.1%) than females (37.9%). Majority (51.2%) of the unemployed persons belong to age group 15-24 years. Looking at the regional data, Cagayan Valley recorded the highest employment rate of 96.8 percent, followed by MIMAROPA and Zamboanga Peninsula (95.9% each). The lowest employment rate was recorded in National Capital Region (NCR) with 90.1 percent. It is interesting to know that those who worked in the services sector comprised the largest proportion, which posted more than half or 53.3 percent of the estimated employed persons. Equally interesting is the fact that those engaged in wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles comprised the highest percentage (18.6% of total employed). Those engaged in agriculture sector was recorded the second largest group which accounted for 30.9 percent of the total employed. Only 16.0 percent of the total employed consisted of workers in the industry sector, with the manufacturing (8.5% of the total employed) and construction (6.1% of the total employed) sub-sectors having the highest proportions. Education experts may be interested in looking into this information.With regard the highest grade completed, one-third (33.3%) of the unemployed persons were high school graduates, 13.9 percent were college undergraduates, while 19.2 percent were college graduates. Indeed, both business and academe can gain more insights by investigating further through research that will certainly address their most urgent need.

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AN INSIGHTFUL LOOK AT CIVIL REGISTRATION AND RA 10172

WHEN I was reading James C. Dobson's statement about marriage which says" Don't marry the person you think you can live with; marry only the individual you think you can't live without”, I was inspired to look at the latest statistics on marriage taking place in Northern Mindanao. What I saw was the total number of marriages occurring in 2010 which registered a total of 24,484 which is 1,571 higher than that of 2009. Then I shifted to statistics on live births - the latest of which is 2009 which posted a total of 80,747 live births consisting of 41,990 females and 38,756 males with a sex ratio of 108. Birth, death and marriage statistics are the milestones of human lives, and the most common way of collecting information is through civil registration-an administrative system employed by governments to record the occurrence of such events in the lives of their population (Hufana,2010). Civil Registration is defined as the continuous permanent, compulsory and universal recording of the occurrence and characteristics of vital events and other civil status pertaining to the population as provided by decree, law or regulation in accordance with the legal requirement of each country (United Nations 2001). The civil registration system addresses various needs. For individuals, vital records provide legal proof of identity, civil status, age and relationship. On the other hand, vital statistics derived from the aggregation of individual records provide the tools for the demographic analyses needed for economic and social planning and development. It also provides insights into various health information such as leading causes of death as well as death sex ratio. For instance, since 2000, there have been more reported deaths of males than of females. In 2008, the proportion of male deaths was higher than female deaths in all age groups except in age group 80 and over. Disparity between sexes was prominent from infancy until after retirement ages. The infant death sex ratio in 2008 was 143.7 , which indicates higher risk of dying among male infants than female infants ( NSO Philippine Yearbook,2010). If we were to take a insightful look at how civil registration in the Philippines has gone through in addressing the growing needs of the people, we would see significant developments such as RA 9048, otherwise known as AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE CITY OR MUNICIPAL CIVIL REGISTRAR OR THE CONSUL GENERAL TO CORRECT A CLERICAL OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR IN AN ENTRY AND/OR CHANGE OF FIRST NAME OR NICKNAME IN THE CIVIL REGISTER WITHOUT NEED OF A JUDICIAL ORDER, AMENDING FOR THIS PURPOSE ARTICLES 376 AND 412 OF THE CIVIL CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES. Such was the act passed in 2001. The passage of time witnessed growing needs among petitioners with regard some errors in their birth and marriage certificates .Thus, on August 19,2012 , President Benigno S.C. Aquino III signed into law Republic Act No. 10172, an act further authorizing the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general to correct clerical or typographical errors in the day and month in the date of birth or sex of a person appearing in the civil register without need of a judicial order, amending R.A. NO. 9048. Clerical or typographical error refers to a mistake committed in the performance of clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing, or typing an entry in the civil register, such as misspelled name or misspelled place of birth, mistake in the entry in the date of birth or the sex of the person, which is visible to the eyes or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records. Provided, however, that no correction must involve change of nationality, age , or status of the petitioner. This law will ease corrections and will spare the petitioner from undergoing the tedious court proceedings. Requesting parties are required to support petition with the following documents: A certified true machine copy of the certificate or of the page of the registry book containing the entry or entries sought to be corrected or changes; at least two public or private documents showing the correct entry or entries upon which the correction or change shall be based: other documents which the petitioner or the city or municipal civil registrar or the consul general may consider relevant and necessary for the approval of the petition. As provided ,"clerical or typographical error refers to a mistake committed in the performance of clerical work in writing, copying, transcribing or typing an entry in the civil register that is harmless and innocuous, such as misspelled name or misspelled place of birth or the like, which is visible to the eyes or obvious to the understanding, and can be corrected or changed only by reference to other existing record or records:” However, it strictly provides that no correction must involve the change of nationality, age, status or sex of the petitioner. Its effectivity shall take place fifteen days after its publication in the Official Gazette or in at least two newspapers of general circulation.

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