International Symposium
"In Pursuit of Statistics for Sustainable Development in Asia"
PORTRAYING DISPARITY THROUGH STATISTICS:
SITUATIONS AND METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES-PHILIPPINES
by
Tomas P.Africa
Administrator
National Statistics Office
National Economic and Development Authority
Philippines
ABSTRACT
Special problems and concerns at present are somehow linked to the extent of how much and how often statistics about them are available, that is, their statistical visibility. Gender differentials, income inequalities, and social stratification are probable examples of issues that have been statistically invisible until the last quarter of the 20th century.
Now that information technology has made computing power more available and relatively inexpensive, differentials and variations in society and the economy can increasingly be assessed in detail. Both quantification of phenomena and expectations can be calibrated with the availability and accessibility of information.
Estimates of poverty are disturbing. Traditional concepts of who is employed or unemployed do not mean much in Asia where family ties, underemployment and the seasonal nature of agriculture are common in rural areas, and concepts of the working day or week are poorly defined. A large proportion of the population is not able to contribute to national growth. As a result although the region contains more than half of the world's population, it accounts for only one-quarter of the world GNP.
However the inadequacy of GNP as a measure of living standards has led to the development of the HDI which somehow upgrades the relative living standards of the countries in Asia and the Pacific.
Urbanization through migration from the countryside is taking place both with andwithout industrialization in developing countries. This has aggravated the urban employment situation and the consequent negative impact on housing conditions.
Gender disparities are considerable in most countries in Asia and the Pacific. Women make up one-half to three-fourths of the illiterate, and in South Asia, the literacy rates of women are only one-half of those for males. Females also have inferior educational opportunities to men, and particularly worse in South Asia. The heavy preponderance of the young add to further social complications.
It is necessary to compare concepts and methods when comparing
