Food and Poverty Thresholds

In the full year of 2018, a family of five needed no less than PhP 7,944, on the average, to meet the family’s basic food needs for a month in Ilocos Region. This amount is the food threshold. On the other hand, no less than PhP 11,237, on the average, was needed to meet both basic food and non-food needs of a family of five in a month in the region. This amount is the poverty threshold. These are 21.0 percent and 18.8 percent higher compared with the food and poverty thresholds respectively in the full year of 2015.

Food threshold is the minimum income required for a family/individual to meet the basic food needs, satisfying the nutritional requirements set by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) to ensure that one remains economically and socially productive.  On the other hand, poverty threshold is the minimum income required for a family/individual to meet the basic food and non-food needs such as clothing, fuel, light and water, housing, rental of occupied dwelling units, transportation and communication, health and education expenses, non-durable furnishing, household operations and personal care and effects.

Poverty among Filipino families and individuals

The poverty incidence among Filipino families in Ilocos Region in the full year of 2018 was estimated at 6.9 percent. This is defined as the proportion of families with per capita income less than the per capita poverty threshold to the total number of families. This was estimated at 14.0 percent in the full year of 2015. At 0.10 level of significance, a significant decrease of 7.1 percentage points from 2015 to 2018 was observed in the poverty incidence among Filipino families in the region.  

At the provincial level, at 0.10 level of significance, significant decreases in the poverty incidence from 2015 to 2018 were noted in the provinces of Ilocos Sur with 5.4 percentage points (10.8% to 5.4%), La Union with 10.6 percentage points (13.5% to 2.9%), and Pangasinan with 7.8 percentage points (17.0% to 9.2%). On the other hand, the 2.0 percentage points decrease in the poverty incidence among families in Ilocos Norte from 5.2 percent in 2015 to 3.2 percent in 2018 was not significantly different.

Table 1. Poverty Incidence Among Families by Province

Ilocos Region: 2015 and 2018

                                                            * Significantly different based on α=10%

The poverty incidence among Filipino individuals in Ilocos Region in the full year of 2018 was estimated at 9.7 percent. This is referred to as the proportion of the population living below the poverty line to the total population. This was estimated at 18.8 percent in the full year of 2015. At 0.10 level of significance, a significant decrease of 9.1 percentage points from 2015 to 2018 was observed in the poverty incidence among Filipino individuals in the region.  

At the provincial level, all the four provinces of the region recorded significant decreases at 0.10 level of significance, in their respective poverty incidence from 2015 to 2018: Ilocos Norte with 3.3 percentage points (8.0% to 4.7%); Ilocos Sur with 6.4 percentage points (13.9% to 7.5%); La Union with 13.1 percentage points (17.5% to 4.4%); and Pangasinan with 10.1 percentage points (22.8% to 12.7%).

Table 2. Poverty Incidence Among Population by Province

Ilocos Region: 2015 and 2018

                                                            * Significantly different based on α=10%

The subsistence incidence among Filipino families in Ilocos Region in the full year of 2018 was estimated at 1.0 percent. This is alternatively called as the proportion of Filipino families whose incomes fall below the food threshold. This was estimated at 3.5 percent in the full year of 2015. At 0.10 level of significance, a significant decrease of 2.5 percentage points from 2015 to 2018 was observed in the subsistence incidence among families in the region.  

At the provincial level, from 2015 to 2018, a significant decrease was noted in the subsistence incidence among families in Ilocos Sur with 1.3 percentage points (1.9% to 0.6%), La Union with 5.5 percentage points (5.7% to 0.2%), and Pangasinan with 2.3 percentage points (3.8% to 1.5%). On the other hand, the 0.1 percentage point difference in the subsistence incidence among families in Ilocos Norte from 0.3 percent in 2015 to 0.2 percent in 2018 was found to be not significant.

Table 3. Subsistence Incidence Among Families by Province

Ilocos Region: 2015 and 2018

                                                           * Significantly different based on α=10%

The subsistence incidence among Filipino individuals in Ilocos Region in the full year of 2018 was estimated at 1.8 percent. It refers to the proportion of Filipinos whose incomes fall below the food threshold. This was estimated at 5.1 percent in the full year of 2015. At 0.10 level of significance, a significant decrease of 3.3 percentage points from 2015 to 2018 was observed in the poverty incidence among Filipino individuals in the region.  

At the provincial level, the subsistence incidence among Filipino individuals in La Union and Pangasinan in 2018 was significantly different with the subsistence incidence recorded in said provinces in 2015. La Union posted a 7.6 percentage points difference from 8.0 percent in 2015 to 0.4 percent in 2018 while Pangasinan recorded a 3.2 percentage points decrease from 5.8 percent in 2015 to 2.6 percent in 2018. On the other hand, the difference of the subsistence incidence among Filipino individuals in Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur in 2015 and 2018 was found to be not significant. Ilocos Norte posted 0.3 percentage point decrease from 0.7 percent in 2015 to 0.4 percent in 2018 while Ilocos Sur posted a 1.3 percentage points decline from 2.3 percent in 2015 to 1.0 percent in 2018.

Table 4. Subsistence Incidence Among Population by Province

Ilocos Region: 2015 and 2018

                                                            * Significantly different based on α=10%

In addition to the thresholds and incidences, the PSA also releases other poverty-related statistics such as the income gap, poverty gap and severity of poverty. The income gap measures the average income required by the poor in order to get out of poverty, expressed relative to the poverty threshold.  The poverty gap refers to the income shortfall (expressed in proportion to the poverty threshold) of families with income below the poverty threshold, divided by the total number of families.  The severity of poverty is the total of the squared income shortfall (expressed in proportion to the poverty threshold) of families with income below the poverty threshold, divided by the total number of families.  This is a poverty measure that is sensitive to income distribution among the poor.

In the full year of 2018, on the average, incomes of poor families in Ilocos Region were short by 16.6 percent of the poverty threshold. This is lower compared with the income gap in the region in 2015 recorded at 19.8 percent.

At the provincial level, Ilocos Norte posted an income gap of 11.6 percent during the full year of 2018, which means that poor families in the province were short by 11.6 percent of the poverty threshold. Meanwhile, the other provinces recorded the following income gaps in 2018: Ilocos Sur with 15.8 percent; La Union with 13.5 percent; and Pangasinan with 17.4 percent

In 2015, Ilocos Norte posted an income gap of 14.4 percent, Ilocos Sur with 16.8 percent, La Union with 25.7 percent, and Pangasinan with 19.1 percent.

Table 5. Income Gap, Poverty Gap and Severity of Poverty by Province

Ilocos Region: 2015 and 2018

*Revised/updated based on the following: a) rebasing of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) market basket of prices from 2006 to 2012; and b) adoption of the 2015 Census of Population results for the weights in the Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES).

Note:    *Food thresholds are estimated using actual prices collected by PSA for the estimation of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). In consonance with the updating of the market basket for the collection of prices for CPI, First Semester 2015 Poverty Statistics were revised accordingly.

SGD. ATTY. SHEILA O. DE GUZMAN
    (Chief Administrative Officer)
      Officer-in-Charge, RSSO I