In 2016 children under the age of 14 made up approximately 32 per cent of the population of the Republic of the Philippines. According to UNESCO, the primary school-age participation rate was nearly 100 per cent in 2013. In 2008 the Government of the Philippines launched the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program, popularly known as the 4Ps, to alleviate the immediate needs of the poor and break the intergenerational poverty cycle through investment in human capital targeting children. The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) operates the scheme with a budget of approximately USD 500 million allocated to conditional cash transfers designed to meet the health, nutrition and educational needs of vulnerable families.

Beneficiaries are selected through a proxy means test called the National Household Targeting System,which surveys the physical structure of their houses, the number of rooms and occupants, their access to running water, and other factors affecting their living conditions. The 4Ps provides eligible families with PHP 6,000, or USD 125, a year per household for health and nutrition expenses and PHP 3,000, or USD 65, per child for educational expenses, for up to three children per household. A household with three registered children can receive a maximum of PHP 15,000, or USD 315, a year. These conditional cash transfers are made available to eligible families living below provincial poverty thresholds in the poorest municipalities with children up to 14 years of age. Recipients of the cash transfer programme accept six child focused conditions: 1) children aged 3 to 5 must attend day-care or preschool at least 85 per cent of the time, 2) children aged 6 to14 must enroll in school and attend at least 85 per cent of the time, 3) pregnant women must receive pre- and post-natal care and give birth with a medical professional, 4) parents must attend family development seminars, 5) children aged 0 to 5 must receive regular health checks and vaccines; and, 6) children aged 6 to 14 must receive de-worming pills twice a year. As of August 26, 2015, the programme has reached 4,353,597 active household-beneficiaries in 1,484 municipalities nationwide.

The 4Ps was piloted in 2007 and has been scaled up quickly.  Investments in children, such as the 4Ps, illustrate a strong commitment in moving toward more broad and robust social protection coverage for children in the Philippines.

Further Reading:

• The World Bank Group (2013). Philippines Conditional Cash Transfer Program Impact Evaluation 2012 (Report Number 75533-PH). (Revised in 2014)