Don’t insist on low poverty threshold, address jobs crisis, gov’t told
Don’t insist on low poverty threshold, address jobs crisis, gov’t told
IBON.org
The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) recently attributed reduced poverty in the first semester of 2018 to the rising quality of jobs under the Duterte administration. But research group IBON said that dismal jobs creation, the magnitude of joblessness, poor quality work, and meager wages give away the true picture of Philippine poverty. The group stressed that government needs to first admit that there is a jobs problem to embark on real solutions to poverty.
Very weak job creation indicates an economy in crisis that deprives people of livelihoods, IBON said. Job generation in the first two years of the Duterte administration was the worst in six decades and nine administrations. Employment grew by an annual average of only 0.2% in in 2017 and 2018 compared to the 1.6%-3.9% annual average under the administrations since the time of Diosdado Macapagal in the 1960s.
Comments (0)