Poverty, fertility and family size
Date
2008-04
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Abstract
Economic and related literature on the Philippines and other countries point out different causes of poverty. The fact remains that demographic characteristics affect poverty which forms part of the big picture. This study relates some demographic characteristics such as fertility, family size, ideal number of children, literacy and religion to the incidence of poverty in the Philippine regions. By applying ordinary least squares analysis on household data provided by the National Demographic and Health Survey, Family Income and Expenditure Survey, Census of Population and Housing and Philippine Statistical Yearbook for 2003, the study finds that the said variables significantly affect the incidence of poverty. Family size and fertility have significant positive effects on poverty incidence. On the other hand, literacy negatively affects poverty. This study recommends that future readers and policy makers focus on regulating the rate of fertility and family size while improving the literacy of Filipinos, to put an end to the problem of poverty in the country.
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Keywords
Poverty, Fertility, Family, Fertility rates, Population growth, Socioeconomic status