An Assessment of the Causes of Poverty in an Urban Poor Community in the Philippine National Railroad (PNR) Compound in Tondo, Manila

Abstract

Poverty is one of the oldest and fastest spreading diseases of the nation. It has long been one of the major problems of the country ever since. The research has been to verify if the causes of poverty in the past is still the same as with the present. Also, the subjects of this study were classified into its appropriate levels of living through the surveys conducted. And it was also identified that the main causes of poverty are lack of good job opportunities due to poor quality of education and nonaction of the government to this sector of the society, among others. Metro Manila holds the biggest accumulation of urban poor communities in the Philippines. Because of the fast rate of out-migration from the provinces and other rural areas, the population in Metro Manila became so dense that most people ended up squatting. Thinking that there will be better job opportunities and a better life waiting for them in the metro, they take the risk of leaving their comfortable life in the province. However, the research has proven that their living conditions worsened. To address this problem, the government should start implementing projects that: will alleviate the living conditions of these urban poor families.