14-November-2007 SEARCA News
Are Philippine agricultural households still able to save some of their income?
The answer is yes – but barely. Study shows that only 5.91% of the agriculture household’s income is saved. Households are considered agricultural if 50% or more of their income is derived from agriculture.
This is the ongoing study of SEARCA Adjunct Training Fellow Dr. Lisa Grace S. Bersales and Prof. Dennis Mapa which the former presented in the recent ADSS titled “Saving Patterns and Behavior of Agricultural Households” last Nov. 13 at Drilon Hall, SEARCA.
According to Dr. Bersales, the relatively low saving rate of agricultural households is a “sad picture” especially for an agricultural country like the Philippines. Also, when the variables were correlated, it was found that there is high correlation between being poor and agriculture as source of income.
The Cagayan Valley ranked highest in regional estimates with a 10.31% saving rate. Surprisingly, the Ilocos Region, known for their thriftiness, has a –0.78% saving rate. It was also noted that the peak of saving occurs in population aged 50 to 64 years old. Sadly, the 2000 census reported that this is only 8% of our total population.
This project originated from an earlier study that focused on the saving patterns and behavior of all Philippine households. The data came from the triennial Family Income and Expenditure Survey (FIES) from 1985 to 2003, which provided regional estimates. The 1988 regional definition was followed; thus, only 14 regions were studied (It did not include the Cordillera Autonomous Region [CAR] and Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao [ARMM]. Region IV was still not divided into CALABARZON and MIMAROPA). -
Ranell Martin M. Dedicatoria, KMU
