Effects Of Poverty In The Philippines

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Register to read the introduction… The Philippines has had more or less uneven success in reducing poverty over the past two decades when compared to its neighboring countries. The number of people living in poverty throughout the Philippine Islands has inclined in the past two decades. That number of people living in poverty was last reported in 2001 to be 27.3 million people. That number would then equal 40% of the people who live there that are officially considered poor. The poverty line was placed at P8, 885 per person per year, equivalent at the prevailing exchange rates to about $340 per person per year, or less than a dollar per person per day. When your income level is below the poverty line, you are then considered to be poor. The mass of the population is struggling to ensure their children’s and their own survival. “For many people the daily task is merely to find enough money to buy food to stay alive, to feed their children, and to pray that sickness and disease are kind enough to pass them by.” (Davis 93) Without the necessities one needs they are nothing but powerless. How can you survive without money, food, or the medical attention that you need? Most families are unable to afford services of a doctor, unless they purchase expensive medicines produced by multinational drug companies. The Philippines is a country that is infested with poverty, sickness, and disease. Death is an everyday …show more content…
The poor have the highest fertility rates and the most children to support. Over half of the population is currently below the poverty line, and almost a third lives below subsistence. Poverty is most severe in rural areas, where an increasing number of the rural poor rely on fragile resources. Population growth rates are particularly high among the rural poor.” (Cruz et al. 15) Living conditions in the Philippines are almost unbearable for most people living there. Even though they have nothing more, they wish that they could just have enough room in their houses to do what they need to do. “Slums and squatter areas are found throughout the towns and cities of the Philippines, dwelling places of tin, wood, nipa, plastic sheeting or concrete blocks built around open sewer drains and pitched anywhere a family can find space to erect a shack.” (Davis 63) Sometimes the houses will consist of ten to twelve people sleeping on the floor in a dinky room. The buildings that surround the streets of the capital city are crumbling, and are almost all considered fire hazards. Two hundred and forty-five of the capital city Manila’s 415 listed slums are considered priority areas to live. The reason that there are so many slums surrounding the cities is because it is nearly impossible to gain money to travel to a city where there are jobs. Shack communities are also

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