4 in 10 Pinoy kids live in poverty

MANILA, Philippines - Four out of 10 Filipino children are living in various forms of poverty, other than economic poverty, according to the latest survey on child welfare conducted by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

The study conducted in 2006 showed that 44 percent of Filipino children, or around 12.8 million under the age of 15, live in poverty, up by almost a million from the 2003 survey.

“The study also reveals that the situation becomes more disturbing due to the fact that children do not only suffer from income poverty but also from various other dimensions of poverty such as deprivations in terms of food, shelter, health, education, water, sanitation facilities, electricity and information,” UNICEF said in a statement released yesterday.

UNICEF said most of the impoverished children in the country – around 9.2 million – live in the Visayas, Bicol and Region 4-A.

“In particular, the number of poor children in Bicol is about six-fold the number in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR),” it said.

PIDS president Dr. Josef Yap said the country should invest in the welfare of children to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) created to establish a peaceful and healthy global economy by focusing on issues like poverty, children’s health, empowerment of women and girls, environment, and disease prevention.

“Because children are most vulnerable, meeting their needs and helping them achieve their full potential is promoting human development and investing in the progress of mankind,” Yap said.

UNICEF launched last week a report titled, “Progress for Children: Achieving the MDGs with Equity,” which showed that reducing poverty among children can be achieved faster by focusing on the most disadvantaged groups.

“This new UNICEF report shows that contrary to traditional thinking that suggested focusing on the poorest was not cost-effective, an equity-focused strategy will yield not only a morally right approach but one that is effective in reducing national poverty rates,” said UNICEF country representative Vanessa Tobin. 

Tobin said using the equity approach wherein $1 million is invested in programs to reduce deaths among children below the age of five would prevent almost 60 percent of deaths among children and therefore accelerate progress to meeting the MDGs.