Social and Cultural Issues

Many of those living near or below the poverty line in the Philippines experience constant hardship, suffering, and oppression. Most of them remain homeless and without jobs. Even those who receive small paychecks or wages cannot sustain their families with such meager incomes.

One of the factors that greatly influence such low standards of living and sustenance is very poor self-esteem. Because of their state of life, they tend to harbor derogatory feelings of inferiority. They see themselves at the whim of wealthier people and at the mercy of those who drive society. Thus, what results is poor motivation to try to work harder. They have resigned themselves to their lifestyles and intend to just live their lives like slaves.

This factor cycles into limited freedom because of poverty. Their state of life prevents them from escaping societal evils such as oppression and abuse, especially from the upper classes. They remain powerless without any voice in matters that run their lives. They are their own slaves to their lack of confidence and motivation. They are imprisoned in economic and material hardship.

Aside from being born into poverty, there are other elements that keep a person under that dreaded poverty line. One of the most important of these is poor education. The lack of sufficient academic foundations and work experience brings about the inability to perform higher-paying jobs. This relegates the poor to the level of unskilled laborers who find themselves in the simplest and lowest-paying jobs around.

Another major contributor to a low standard of living is the poor state of health that many of the poor citizenry experience. Ailing workers lack motivation. They have little discipline in them to enable them to tackle more complicated areas of work or longer shifts. This not only turns out progressively unskilled laborers, but also hampers quality production.

Very large families have done so much to keep the Philippine poor where they are. The poor, lacking enough knowledge in family planning, have much time in their hands, especially if they are among the many who remain unemployed. In addition to this, some of the poor believe that the more children they have, the more they can send them to be victims of child labor and earn income for the family. They abuse their kids to earn more and turn a blind eye to the rights of the child. It is so common to see, even in the media, notions that the child will study hard and one day to lift his or her parents from poverty.

All of this backfires when the labor supply shoots up. This brings down the price of labor and allows huge capitalist organizations to take advantage of cheap labor. In most cases, it leads to abuse and neglect.

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