Measuring Poverty free essay sample

One of the Millennium Development Goals of the Philippines is to eradicate the extreme poverty and hunger. One of the factors that affect the living of Filipino families pertains to their wage. The minimum wage of P446 is insufficient for a family of 5-6 members to live decently. Family wage is essentially the wage of the whole family as a whole, including any types of wages made off to the side. It may be hard to calculate this value. Minimum wage mainly refers to the monthly, hourly or daily wage which is acceptable for any formal employee. It is important that the workers are not expected to sell their labor below the minimum standard. The minimum wage set can differ according to jurisdiction and applies to lower their environment. A minimum wage is the lowest hourly wage that employers can legally pay to workers. Children and parents in low-income families, especially those that rely on less or minimum wage earners, are more susceptible to financial hardships than higher-income families. Many factors contribute to family poverty including underemployment and unemployment. Some may inherit poverty because of born into a particular social group defined by race, class and location. Families who constitute the â€Å"working group† may have one or both parents working at or near minimum wage. People with inadequate income typically give accounts of their difficulties in meeting basic costs, including struggling to pay for food, accommodation, clothing, education, health care, utilities, transport and recreation and trying to balance competing demands. The poverty incidence is the percentage of poor compared to the total population. By means of these, we can identify how many families are living below poverty line. The government can address the issue in a more specific and particular way, government programs and policies will be given an emphasis in concentrating its forces for the poor families. Minimum wage increases reduce poverty but that the effect is minimal. Food stamps were phased –out during minimum-wage increases and that this is partially offset the benefits of wage increases. Background of the Study Our study covers measuring the poverty incidence within their families, their current lifestyle, and what are government’s plan to address their problems and how to further improve and uplift their current standard of living. We cannot deny the problem that these below minimum wage earners are facing today; not enough food to sustain for the whole family, lack of proper shelter that protects them through rain or calamity, lack of health security that would assure their medical needs, children which they cannot send to school for proper education, and worst, family members are engaging in crimes just for them to escape a day’s problem. It is of high regard that these problems must be stress out to everyone for them to realize how these families, greatly needed the government and civil society’s attention and care. We are to conduct these study to prevent further higher negative effects to poor families and to give awareness to their current situation, also how the government, civil society, business firms and the community can help better improve their lives in addressing the said situation. It is of big importance that this study would help the government and the families themselves on how they can lessen their problem and be an asset to the government than being a liability. We see that the problem within, are lack of proper planning and firm discipline in executing plans on the part of the subject themselves. Geographical conditions of the study locale are; informal settlers, dirty and unnecessary smell of area, no sanitation, and lack of water and electrical supply to some parts of the area. The basic achievements at present considered to be in six areas: nutrition, primary education, health, sanitation, water supply, and housing and related infrastructure. The problem is most of the basic achievements are not being achieve, some are very difficult for them to have and acquired. Theoretical Framework Defining poverty at the subsistence level, the 2011 methodology puts the poverty threshold where a family can survive at the barest existence to spend for food, mobility and any shelter from natural elements during the night. Also given the low poverty threshold, the Php446 daily minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) would appear more than enough for a family of five or six. But aside from the question of compliance by companies, this minimum wage has been criticized for forming only 43. 8% of the NCR family living wage. Thus, the new poverty methodology not only serves to offer a prospect of Philippine development by showing less and less Filipinos to be poor; it also serves to embolden employers to bat for a lower minimum wage. In this case, we already have the 4Ps or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, but still, it doesn’t help much of the low income families because the government cannot reach these families. As researchers we would like to come up a possible way or law that will help a family of five to six member or less live decently. Conceptual Framework The first frame contains personal variables of the worker or the family member. These data that we will gather from the respondents will help us to find out their credibility as a member of the family. Further , the employment history and information is necessary to determine his current salary and income. The second frame contains the method and procedures to be used to analyze those variables by conducting documentary research, interview, survey, observations, and assessment of the information. FEEDBACK PROCESS: -Survey Questionnaire -Documentary Research Unstructured Interview -Analysis and assessment of program implementation -Statistical Analysis OUTPUT: -Conclusion on the objective of the study -Measuring the Poverty Incidence and how they would address it with/without help of the government. INPUT: -Beneficiaries of 4P -Personal Variables -Profile -Employment Information -Earnings -Expenses The Third frame which is the output includes conclusions and recommendation that the re searchers suggested to further improvement of the implementation of the program, the effects and outcome of the study Statement of the Problem This study aimed to determine the poverty incidence in Barangay 591, Manila, to determine the effects and impact to the standard of living and behavior of Filipino poor families and how it influenced their current political attitudes. Specifically, the study seeks answers to the following questions: 1. 0 Profile of the Respondents in terms of the following: 2. 1 Name; 2. 2 Address; 2. 3 Gender; 2. 4 Civil Status; 2. 5 Age; 2. 6 Members of the Family; 2. 7 Educational Attainment; 2. 8 Current Work/Job; 2. 9 Monthly Income; 2. 0 Status of the Family in terms of the following: 3. 0 How many members of the family are working; 3. 11 Do they still have the chance to save money; 3. 0 Do they meet the basic achievement through: 4. 12 Nutrition; 4. 13 Primary Education; 4. 14 Health; 4. 15 Sanitation; 4. 16 Water Supply; 4. 17 Housing and Related Infrastructure; 4. 0 Effectiveness of the Government program of 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) in terms of the following: 5. 18 Consisten cy; 5. 19 Money Spending; 5. 20 Security; 5. 21 Dependability; 5. 22 Assurance; Objective The main goal of the research study is to determine the poverty incidence in Barangay 591. And also, the researchers want to ascertain the effectiveness of the Government program in addressing the extreme poverty issue. Hypothesis This study tested these hypotheses: 1. There is no significant difference between the background of the poor families of the Barangay and the assistance made by the Government for the year 2013. 2. There is no significant result in the level of effectiveness in the performance of 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) delivered by the Government as assessed by the beneficiaries. Scope and Delimitation Selected beneficiaries of 4Ps ( Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program ) in Barangay 591 whose income is less than the minimum wage of Php446 a day. A minimum wage is the lowest hourly wage that employers can legally pay to all employees based on the current version of the law. It helps to close the income gap between rich and poor. Although there is still significant difference, it is still narrowing this gap is important to maintaining a population with equal freedoms. This study will help the different employers and companies on how should they realize how important for a worker his every salary given to him. The monthly income which is greatly not sufficient for an average number of a Filipino family ranges 5-6 members. It simply implies that with the use of this research, the workers for their family can be found abundance and they will work for less that minimum wage since they do not deal with payroll deductions to cover taxes and the like. Significance of the Study The search for a fair society is in fact a search for some form of equity among the members of this society, an equitable position being defined by the equality of members relative to the â€Å"things† which need to be specified. Poverty, which corresponds to an unacceptable degree of inequality, cannot be analyzed without referring to our conception of the desired equality in the framework of the social arrangement. Therefore, this research study is deemed significant to the following stakeholders for the following reasons: * Poverty Incidence – Poverty Rate of the poverty risk rate (PR) and is calculated in Poverty-rate (PR)= P/N , and is the total population of the poor. Poverty gaps, measurements defined in a number of ways, are measures that usually measures the intensity of poverty. Government – This research could provide knowledge to the government on how significant were the conditional cash transfer and the current standard of living of the poor families in Barangay 591. * Poor Families – The research will provide the poor families to determine what further steps will help to improve their lives. * 4Ps (Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program) – This research will help determ ine the effectiveness of the program and how to further develop the policy. * Poverty Management – This study determine the factors that may lift or heighten the present plight of the Philippine poverty index. It will emphasize the significance of having a good framework that somehow has an assurance to carry out the will of the program at the end of the day * To the Researchers – the process and outcome of this study will produce competence, professionalism and great satisfaction. Various challenges and exciting adventures will enhance the social lifestyle and intellectual capabilities of the researchers while pursuing to finish what they have started. Definition of Terms The following terms are conceptually or operationally defined to enhance the understanding of the readers of this paper. 1. Poor Families – those who are living below the poverty line as describe by the National Statistical Coordination Board, whose income is far less than the minimum wage prescribed by the government. 2. Poverty – A family can survive at the barest existence to spend for food, mobility, and any shelter from natural elements during the night. 3. Objective Poverty – Defined as a situation in which the individuals basic needs are not covered, in other words, there is a lack of basic goods and services (normally related to food, housing, and clothes). 4. Relative Poverty – Locates the phenomenon of poverty in the society under the study. From this perspective, a person is considered poor when they are in a clearly disadvantaged situation, either financially or socially, with regards other people in their environment. 5. Minimum Wage – Is the lowest hourly wage that employers can legally pay to workers. 6. Local Government – A governing institution which has authority over a sub-national territorially defined area. CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ANDSTUDIES Several studies have been conducted here and abroad which have a direct and indirect bearing on the subject to be investigated in this study. This chapter presents a brief review of the foreign and local literatures and studies gathered by the researchers that were found to be of great implication to the present study conducted. The information gathered gave a clearer portrayal of what the present study is all about, and provided a stronger basis on the researchers in the perseverance of the study. Foreign Literature The literature provides many poverty statistics and some empirical results, but little theory to explain them. Perhaps this is because a theory of poverty is complex to model. A widely accepted theory of income distribution that might help one choose between competing model specifications and their varying results† Few researchers have approached the task of analyzing the effects of different variables on the poverty rate in the context of a coherent overall model of the process by which income is generated, and that are swamped with facts about people’s incomes and about the number and compositio n of people who inhabit the lower tail, but don’t know very much about the process that generates these results. † We have first considered that poverty is an equity issue and then belongs to political philosophy, more specifically to ethics. As an analytical framework to differentiate approaches to study, we decided to follow the Sen’s one, in which the distinction between resource, freedom and achievement space is a central element, combined with the basic recognition of human diversity. Human Capital Theory also explains the pattern of individuals’ lifetime earnings are such that they start out low although earnings tend to fall somewhat as individuals near retirement. The human capital theory states that earnings start out low when people are young because younger people are more likely to invest in human capital and will have to forego earnings as they invest. Younger people are more likely to invest in human capital than older people because they have a larger remaining work life to benefit from their investment and their foregone wages- and so costs of investing are lower. Earnings then increase rapidly with age as new skills are acquired. Finally, as workers grow older, the pace of human capital investment and thus productivity slows, leading to slower earnings growth. In the practical work of identifying and measuring poverty in a society, a lot of methodological choices will have to be done, in which will be revealed implicitly, if not explicitly, the social philosophy supporting these choices. It could be clearly the ethical philosophy of one of the approaches here discussed, or a hybrid of them. It is important to be as conscious as possible of the ethical paradigm dissimulated in apparently inoffensive technical choices, since, through policies leaning on these measurements, the whole social structure will be deeply affected. The choice of specific poverty definition as the one and only measuring rod thus appears to have major consequences, both for the observed incidence of poverty and for the distribution of the poor over social subgroup. Local Literature The gap between the minimum wage and cost of the living in the National Capital Region (NCR) has widened significantly in the past 10 years, with a discrepancy of Php567 or 40% of the cost of the living allowance by the end of 2011. Considering these estimates, â€Å"the current NCR minimum wage of Php446 is grossly insufficient to provide for even a small family. The main consideration in regional wage fixing is the regional disparities in the cost of living. Economically, one region is different from the others. Thus, RA 6727 provides in part: â€Å" The state shall promote collective bargaining as the primary mode of setting wages and other terms and conditions of employment; and whenever necessary, the minimum wage rather shall be adjusted in a f air and equitable manner, considering existing regional disparities in the cost of living and other socio-economic factors and the national economic and social development plans. In the first place, R. A 6727 mandates that wages in every region must be set by the particular wage board on the prevailing situations there in not be necessarily, the wages in the different regions will not be uniform. It must be understood that varying in each region of the country are controlling factors such as cost of living , supply and demand of basic goods, services and necessities and purchasing power of the peso. The rules on condition of employment shall not apply to workers who are paid by results, including those who are paid on piece-work if their outputs rather are in accordance with the standards prescribed by the implementing rules of the Labor Code, or where such, rather than Labor and employment in accordance with applicable provisions. Workers such as: paid by results, paid on piece-work, paid by ‘takay’ or ‘pakyaw’, and pain on other non-time work. Their common denominator is that they are paid by results and not on the basis of the time spent in working, such as those being paid straight wages by the hour, day, week or month. Beltran said that exempting minimum wage earners from the income tax would somehow relieve them of the burden caused by the Expanded Vat Law which increase the tax rates to 12 percent from 10 percent and expanded the coverage of the tax to include electricity and oil among others. The Department of Finance itself has been running for the exemption of the minimum wage earners from the income tax despite potential losses in revenue collection that will result from the measure. Department of Finance also said exempting them from the income tax would give substantial relief to low income earners, although it will only lead to a measly loss of revenue of about Php500 in a year for the government. IBON Foundation’s breakdown of expenses is: Php204 per day- food Php2,096/month for rent, Php1,150 per month for fuel, light and water and Php28/day, Php843/month for the transportation, these account for some 80 percent of the total spending with the balance going to personal care, clothing and footwear, education, medical care and others – Africa. This indicates the poor quality life that minimum wage earners in Metro Manila can afford. † As the Philippines’ National Wages and Productivity Commission (NPWC) reports, the average daily minimum wage in the Philippines does not meet half of what a Filipino family of six members needs daily for food and non-food needs, such as money for utilities and public transportation. The minimum wage act was implemented to have fair and reasonable salary for the workers. Implementation of the minimum wage act has its very good intention to uplift and protects workers from employers who, in their desire to maximize profit, refuse to give decent pay to their employees. Even with the minimum wage in place, 71 percent of Filipinos do not earn enough to meet their families’ basic needs. The Php22/day Cost of Living Allowance (COLA) prescribed shall apply to all minimum wage earners in the private sector in the region, regardless of their position, designation or status of employment and irrespective of the method by which they are paid. It shall not cover household or domestic helpers; persons in the personal service of another, including family drivers and workers duly registered Barangay Micro Business Enterprise (BMBEs) with certificate of Authority pursuant to Republic Act 9178. The need for a law exempting minimum wage earners from the income tax has become urgent, finance officials said, especially because Malacanang issued an executive order last year directing employers not to withheld income taxes of their minimum wages employees. But a law formally exempting minimum wage earner from the income tax has to be passed, finance officials stressed. They explained that in the absence of a law, minimum wage earners were still liable to pay the income tax. The matter has become a problem because income tax liabilities of minimum wage earners have already accumulated following the lifting of the withholding mechanisms. Minimum wage earners exempted from the tax withholding mechanisms are those monthly salary is Php5,000 as below, or whose annual salary does not exceed Php60,000 minimum wage earners also include those whose daily pay is Php 325 or below. First, most of the political debate surrounding the proposed changes in the minimum wage concerns the potential effects on employment. Although we do not view that focus as entire appropriate, the fact that employment question takes such importance means that the answers should be based on a comprehensive survey of the literature, recognizing that minimum wage effects may differ across different segments of the population and in different economic circumstances and contexts. We therefore, attempt to draw general conclusions about the effects of the minimum wage on employment that are relevant to policymakers, pointing out, in particular, in what context and for which workers the minimum wage will have consequences. Second, we hope that our research will help readers assess alternative models of the labor market. The recent literature has reopened the debate about the appropriate theoretical description of the low age labor market, with some of the empirical research characterized as rejecting the competitive model in favor of other formulation. As we note throughout the monograph, economic theory often fails to make an unambiguous prediction about the employment effects of minimum wages. Third, many economists or policymakers perusing the literature may find it quite difficult to draw conclusions from the existing evidence. More than 100 studies have been published on the effects of minimum wages on employment since the 1990s, and the findings from this newer research are summarized differently in different places. In some cases, the new minimum wage research is described as failing to find evidence of unemployment effects. Foreign Studies We focus our attention on more recent studies, which has become known as the â€Å"new minimum wage research. † Because the earlier literature on the employment effects of the minimum wage was carefully and extensively summarized, it seems unnecessary to repeat that review in this monograph. In contrast, there is no comprehensive review of the extensive literature that has emerged over the past 15 years. We thus, begin our review with how the government of Malaysia started the new minimum wage policy. Next, we bring up some issues on how the market conditions favors the government policy. Thus, we review that the advantages of the minimum wage policies gazette by the government. We also identify the economic impact such as the small negative employment rate and investment impact. The poverty rate is a static statistics that measures the percentage of the population living below the poverty line during some fixed line interval, usually a year. While the poverty rate in a particular year provides information about the prevalence of poverty, what we learn from the poverty rate is limited. In particular, it does not provide information on the dynamics of poverty. The numerous studies on poverty dynamics do not tie dynamics to changes in the overall poverty rate. Our analysis decomposes the poverty rate providing a better understanding of changes in the poverty rate over time. The Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) has been asking for a wage policy for decades. The minimum wage policy was announced by the Prime Minister cum Finance Minister in the October 2010 budget speech. On 30 March 2010, the New Economic Model (NEM) proposed the formulation of a minimum wage policy to meet the inclusiveness agenda of the NEM. The objective is to rectify the dysfunctional wage-setting mechanism for low-paid workers. In July 2011, the National Wages Consultative Council Act 2011 (Act 732) was passed by the Parliament and gazette on 15 September 2011, repealing the WCA 1947 (Act 195). In U. S earnings inequality during the 1980s appears to be explained by shifts in the supply of and demand for skills combined with the erosion of labor market institutions- including labor unions and the minimum wage- that protected the earnings of low- and middle-wage workers. A number of influential studies argue that the surge of inequality evident in the 1980s reflected on going, secular rise in the demand for skill that commenced decades earlier and perhaps accelerated during the 1080s with onset of the computer revolution. When this secular demand shift met with an abrupt slowdown in the growth of the relative supply of college-equivalent workers during the 1980s- itself a consequence of slowing educational attainment for cohorts born after 1949 and of smaller entering labor for cohorts- wage differentials expanded rapidly. Local Studies Official poverty measurement actually started in 1985, but the measurement system has undergone a number of changes since then. The latest changes in the official methodology involve the generation of poverty lines for urban/rural areas of each province based on estimating per capita minimal food and non-food requirements in order to meet date user’s demands for more disaggregated statistics. The relationship between poverty and education is quite evident. The poverty profile shows that people living households where either the head has never been to school or at most reached grade school, are very likely to be poor the poverty rate falls further the more schooling a household head gets. This is to be expected as better educated household heads usually have paying occupations, and thus are less likely to be poor. Over the years, there has been considerable work on a descript analysis of poverty in the Philippines. Such interest in poverty analysis has been further sharpened with the decisions of a multitude of countries, including the Philippines, to sign the Millennium Declaration during the 2000 United Nations Summit and to work for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). One of the eight MDGs is the eradication of the extreme poverty and hunger, with two particular targets. With the growing interest in reorienting economic development plans and policies toward developing resources for reducing poverty, it is important to summarize information on poverty in the Philippines and identify characteristics of the poor. As poverty profile serves this purpose and also acts as a descriptive tool for giving clues to the underlying determinants of poverty, which include economic, demographic, social and cultural factors. Although poverty profiles are insightful they are also limited by their informational content in the analysis. Synthesis and Relevance of the Reviewed Literature and Studies From a social researcher’s point of view, poverty is a complex phenomenon influenced by large number of factors and which can be studied from many different perspectives. The study and interpretation of poverty as there are ways of defining it. It is important to distinguish the static studies from the dynamic studies. Dynamic studies include an essential dimension, the length of duration of poverty. In this way, a difference arises between transversal poverty and long-term or persistent poverty. From a completely different perspective, analyses based mainly on the impossibility of access to certain basic consumption elements are carried out, as it is understood that these limitations can result in a lack of social integration, an the study of this aspect of social exclusion, which is strongly linked to poverty. References: Poverty and Its Measurement, Instituto Nacional De Estadistica IBON Foundation Features 31 July 2012 Poverty and Its Measurement, Instituto Nacional De Estadistica. Oxford Dictionary of Politics. http:/www. answers. com/topic/local-government. Probabilities Associated with Entries into, Exits from, and Reentries into Poverty. Sawhill (1988) loc. P. 1112. Louis –Marie Asselin and Anyck Dauphin, †Poverty Measurement†. Ehrenberg and Smith 1991. Louis-Marie Asselin and Anyck Dauphin loc. P. 20. Aldi Hagenaars and Klass de Vos, K. (1998) â€Å"The Definition and Measurement of Poverty† The Journal of Human Resources, Vol. XXIII, No. 2 p. 220. E. De Vera, â€Å"NCR minimum wage insufficient – IBON†, Manila Bulletin, April 24, 2012, p. 14. Section 2, R. A 6727 (Wage Rationalization Act). J. G Chan, Labor Standards and Social Legislation, Vol. , 2009 Revised Edition, p. 480. Section (e), Rule 1, Book II of the Omnibus Rules implementing the Labor Code. C. A Azucena, the Labor code with comments and cases, vol. 1, 5th edition, 2004, p. 156 M. V Remo, â€Å"GMA to push for tax exemption for minimum wage earners. Kaviyarasu Elangkovan, International Journal of Academic Research in Economics . Sept. 2012, Vol. 1. Katz an Autor,(1999), Goldin and Katz (2001), and Acemoglu (2002) for overviews of literature. Jose Ramon G. Albert and Paula Monina Collado,†Profile and Determinants of Poverty in the Philippines,† 2004. Intal, 1994; Marquez and Virola, 1995. CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY This chapter presents the research design of the study, the sampling technique, the description of the respondents, instrumentation, the data gathering procedure, and the statistical tools used in this study. Research Design This study made use of the descriptive research. This type of research according to Sullivan (2001) has its goal description, or the attempt to discover facts or describe reality. It is a picture or account of what exists summarized in this research in numbers, percentages, frequencies, means and rankings. This research thus deals with the effectiveness of 4Ps Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program delivered by the government. Selltiz and other (1976) mentioned that descriptive researches are not limited to any one method of data collection. This research included: (1) survey questionnaires, (2) key informant interviews, (3) observations and (4) documentary analysis. For the quantitative aspects, the following methods were used: (1) Survey Questionnaires; (2) Key Informant interviews For the qualitative aspects, the following methods were used: (3) Observations; and 4) Documentary analysis Population and Sample Size The beneficiaries of government’s 4Ps Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program was the residents studied. At the beneficiaries, the following targeted population consisted of individuals satisfying the following criteria: 1. A resident of Barangay 591 in Manila; 2. Has been utilizing the services of 4Ps; 3. Of legal age, be 18 years old and above; 4. A household head. Out of the 5O participating members of 4Ps, only 18 were able to provide the researchers with the information and were interviewed. Using the Sloven’s Formula, % was obtained from a total of 50 beneficiaries who received the 4Ps benefits. From this, a total of 18 beneficiary-respondent were obtained. Description of the Respondent Beneficiaries Gender As can be seen from Table 1 they show that there are 0 male out of 18 beneficiary respondents or 0% and 18 female or 100%. It further shows that female dominates the survey and that no male has been interviewed. Table 1. Distribution of Respondent by Gender Gender| Frequency| Percentage %| Male| 0| 0%| Female| 18| 100%| Total| 18| 100%| Marital Status It is indicated in Table 2 that there are 11 or 61% respondents who are married, 2 or 11% are widowed, 5 or 28% percent who are separated and 0 or 0% are still single. It can be noted that the respondents are composed of different marital statuses, but the most and least are married and separated respectively. Table 2. Distribution of Respondent by Marital Status Marital Status| Frequency| Percentage (%)| Single| 0| 0| Married| 11| 61%| Widowed| 2| 11%| Separated| 5| 28%| Total| 18| 100%| Age What can be reflected in Table 3 were the diverse age groupings of the beneficiary-respondents. Majority of the 4Ps respondents are within the 18-30 age range. It is followed by 6 respondents within the range 21-60 age. Table 3. Distribution of Respondent by Age Age| Frequency| Percentage (%)| 18-30| 10| 56%| 31-60| 6| 33%| 61 and above| 2| 11%| Total| 18| 100%| Educational Attainment As shown in Table 4, they reveal that most of the respondents are high school graduates. Table 4. Distribution of Respondents by Educational Attainment Educ. Attainment| Frequency| Percentage (%)| Elementary graduate| 4| 22%| High School graduate| 12| 67%| College Undergrad. | 2| 11%| Total| 18| 100%| Employment The data in Table 5 illustrates the status of employment. Table 5. Distribution of Respondent by Employment Employment| Frequency| Percentage (%)| Unemployed| 9| 50%| Employed| 6| 33%| Self-employed| 3| 17%| Total| 18| 100%| Monthly Income It can be noted in Table 6 that Php6000 and below are the highest income received by the respondent which 61% of the total number of respondents- beneficiaries. Table 6. Distribution of Respondents by Monthly Income Monthly Income| Frequency| Percentage (%)| Php6000 and below| 11| 61%| Php8000| 3| 17%| Php8000-10000| 4| 22%| Php10000 and above| 0| 0%| Total| 18| 100%| Instrumentation A combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques was used. These included survey, observation and key informant interview. Quantitative Methods 1. Questionnaire. The contents of the instrument used were adapted with modifications from other instruments relating to poverty incidence. 2. Pre- testing of the Questionnaire. Pre-testing was conducted in order to test the clarity of the questions and the understanding of the items. The pre-testing was conducted to ascertain if respondents understand the instruments well. After the meanings have been explained to the respondents, all unclear items were removed. Qualitative Methods Qualitative data were collected using the data-collection methods: 1. Key Informant Interviews. A total of 18 key informant interviews which involved the beneficiaries of 4Ps Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. Data Gathering and Procedure 1. Administration and Retrieval of Questionnaires It was during the middle part of February 2012 when the questionnaires were distributed and collected to 4Ps beneficiaries. The instruments were introduced directly to the beneficiaries who met the inclusion criteria. The gathering of the empirical data were done in close cooperation between the researcher and the respondents. Following principles were observed: a. Respondents were assured that they have the free right whether or not to participate in the study and will encounter no disadvantage for either participating or not participating. b. All respondents were informed about the purpose of the study, the uses to be made of the data and the nature of the task. Permission were secured from the Barangay before data collection. Data Analysis and Statistical Treatment of Data Data analysis is the process of systematically searching and arranging the interview transcripts, and other materials. Analysis involves (1) working with data, (2) organizing them, (3) breaking them into manageable units, (4) synthesizing them, (5) searching for patterns and themes, (6) discovering what is important and what is to be learned, and (7) deciding what you will tell others. 1. Frequency and Percentage Distributions. For the profile of respondent-beneficiaries, the frequency and percentage distribution was used. The Formula is : P=? N X 1OO% Where P – Percentage Frequency N – Number of Respondents [ 2 ]. Kabeers, ‘Beyond the Poverty Lines : Measuring Poverty and Impoverishing Measures, 1994, London, p. 162 [ 3 ]. IBON Foundation Philippines, 2000. [ 4 ]. National Wages and Poverty Commission, 2012. [ 5 ]. Caroline Cooney, â€Å"How Does Minimum Wage Affect low-income Families†. [ 6 ]. IBON Foundation Features 31 July 2012 [ 7 ]. Jares Bernstein , Economic Policy Institute, 1991. [ 8 ]. Amartya Sen, Inequality Reexamined, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1992,. [ 9 ]. IBON Foundation Features July 31 2012 Philippines. [ 10 ]. Pantawid Pamilyan Pilipino Program, Manila, Philippines. [ 11 ]. www. BalancePolitics. org [ 12 ]. Poverty and Its Measurement, Instituto Nacional De Estadistica. [ 13 ]. IBON Foundation Features 31 July 2012 [ 14 ]. Poverty and Its Measurement, Instituto Nacional De Estadistica. [ 15 ]. Poverty and Its Measurement, Instituto Nacional De Estadistica. [ 16 ]. Oxford Dictionary of Politics. http:/www. answers. com/topic/local-government. [ 17 ]. Probabilities Associated with Entries into, Exits from, and Reentries into Poverty. 18 ]. Sawhill (1988) loc. P. 1112. [ 19 ]. Sawhill (1988) loc. P. 1085. [ 20 ]. Louis –Marie Asselin and Anyck Dauphin, †Poverty Measurement†. [ 21 ]. Ehrenberg and Smith 1991. [ 22 ]. Louis-Marie Asselin and Anyck Dauphin loc. P. 20. [ 23 ]. Aldi Hagenaars and Klass de Vos, K. (1998) â€Å"The Definition and Measurement of Poverty† The Journal of Human Resources, Vol. XXIII, No . 2 p. 220. [ 24 ]. E. De Vera, â€Å"NCR minimum wage insufficient – IBON†, Manila Bulletin, April 24, 2012, p. 14. [ 25 ]. Section 2, R. A 6727 (Wage Rationalization Act). [ 26 ]. J. G Chan, Labor Standards and Social Legislation, Vol. 1, 2009 Revised Edition, p. 480. [ 27 ]. Section (e), Rule 1, Book II of the Omnibus Rules implementing the Labor Code. [ 28 ]. C. A Azucena, the Labor code with comments and cases, vol. 1, 5th edition, 2004, p. 156 [ 29 ]. M. V Remo, ‘GMA to push tax exemption for the minimum wage earners, â€Å" July 19, 2007, p. B1+3. [ 30 ]. E. B De Vera, NCR minimum wage insufficient – IBON Foundation, April 24, 2012, p. 1-4. [ 31 ]. Sec. 2, Wage Order No. NCR-16. [ 32 ]. M. V Remo, â€Å"GMA to push for tax exemption for minimum wage earners. [ 33 ]. Kaviyarasu Elangkovan, International Journal of Academic Research in Economics . Sept. 2012, Vol. 1. [ 34 ]. Kaviyarasu Elangkovan, International Journal of Academic Research in Economics . Sept. 2012, Vol. 1. [ 35 ]. Kaviyarasu Elangkovan, International Journal of Academic Research in Economics and Management Sciences, September 2012, Vol. 1, No. 5. [ 36 ]. Katz an Autor,(1999), Goldin and Katz (2001), and Acemoglu (2002) for overviews of literature. [ 37 ]. Jose Ramon G. Albert and Paula Monina Collado,†Profile and Determinants of Poverty in the Philippines,† 2004. [ 38 ]. Intal, 1994; Marquez and Virola, 1995.