MANILA – The Philippines has established a new multidimensional poverty index that will complement the existing income-based gauge, the National Economic and Development Authority said Thursday.
The new index identifies 13 indicators across 4 dimensions: education, health and nutrition housing, water and sanitation, and employment, NEDA said in a statement.
A person is “multidimensionally deprived” or poor if he or she is deprived in at least 1 third or 4 of the 13 indicators, NEDA said.
Filipinos who consider themselves deprived in at least 4 of the 13 indicators were estimated at 17.3 percent in 2017 and 23.9 percent in 2016, NEDA said.
“This will greatly help the government gain a full understanding of the extent of poverty that Filipinos experience,” Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia said.
“While there is a strong correlation between income and quality of life, there are other aspects of poverty that income does not reflect,” he said. (ABS-CBN News/PN)
