PSA eyes changes in computing poverty level

By Cai Ordinario, BusinessMirror, 7 Feb 2020

THE Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said it is seeking to amend the methodology for computing the poverty threshold, which could result in an increase in the amount needed by individuals to stay out of poverty.

National Statistician and Civil Registrar Claire Dennis S. Mapa told reporters at the sidelines of a seminar on poverty organized by the Ateneo de Manila University Department of Economics and Ateneo Center for Economic Research and Development (ACERD) that it is time to make the necessary changes.

Mapa said the revision will include changing the definition of the poverty threshold and revising the menu of basic items used to compute whether a person is poor or not.

“It depends on the menu and how it will be changed, as well as the price. But definitely, if you change prices, the threshold will really increase because it will adjust,” he said.

“But on the question earlier of whether the items will be changed, first we have to look at the new data from the National Nutrition Survey [NNS] and then identify whether this menu is still being consumed at the provincial level. We need to prioritize research to obtain the data from the ground,” he added.

Mapa said the revision of the poverty threshold definition and methodology will be done after the PSA updates other data such as the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which will be rebased to 2018.

However, integral to the CPI revision and, consequently, the poverty threshold revision, is the commodity outlet survey (COS) which requires the PSA to go back to the outlets where households are buying their food and nonfood needs.

The COS is supposed to be conducted this year. As it was not given a budget, Mapa said the PSA will have to realign funds from its 2020 budget to finance the survey.

“We need to [make changes] because the 2018 consumption pattern would be different [from that of] 2012,” he said.

The poverty threshold is the minimum amount that can buy basic needs such as food, health, education, housing, and “other essential amenities of life.”

Based on the 2018 poverty data, PSA estimated that the poverty threshold per family a month is P10,727, a 13.5-percent increase from P9,452 posted in 2015.

However, the amount varies per region. The highest poverty threshold is in Metro Manila at P11,951 in 2018 followed by Calabarzon with P11,604; Caraga, P11,482; Ilocos, P11,237; and Central Luzon, P11,161.

The lowest poverty threshold is in Mimaropa at P9,679 followed by Bicol with P10,168; Western Visayas, P10,197; Northern Mindanao, P10,333; and Cordillera Administrative Region, P10,364.