Based on the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction (NHTS-PR) or Listahanan in Northern Mindanao, of the 1,861,414 poor individuals assessed, 896,276 or 48.2% comprised the poor women sector.
Most (7.5%) of these poor women are laborers and unskilled workers. Of these, 5.5% are engaged in farming, forestry works and fishing. It is also alarming to note that 67% of the poor women in Northern Mindanao were reported to have no job.
In terms of educational attainment, about 42.5% of the poor women have only reached elementary level, while 28.1% of these women have reached high school level, and only 5.0% reached college level.
In general, Filipino women find pride in their work and in their chores at home. They do not find themselves alienated from their chores because they work with, around, and for their families. The family-oriented mindset gives them a sense of dignity and responsibility. The family and the children are the primary priority in a Filipina’s life.
As majority of these poor women are in the rural areas, they are more than willing to do whatever tasks or job opportunity is at hand regardless of how much they are being paid.
Being in a modern era, women are empowered to go out of their way and find means on how to earn additional income for their families. Despite of this, there still remains a considerable number of poor women needing the attention from the government and other stakeholders who are working for the empowerment of women through their various programs and services geared towards their economic upliftment.
It is hoped that more stakeholders will look into this concern and would find it an opportunity to take part in making a difference in the lives of these poor women by utilizing the Listahanan data as their point of reference in determining who would be their women beneficiaries.
The NHTS-PR or Listahanan is an information management system of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) that aims to address poverty reduction through a scientific and target-focused strategy. The government uses Listahanan to identify poor families who will be beneficiaries of their anti-poverty programs and services.### (Written by Mitzie Santiago, DSWD Field Office X)