Disability pension Essay Example

Disability pension Essay Example Disability pension Essay Disability pension Essay State measures which intend to address needs of 15% of its citizens who have disabilities include the PWD Card (for 20% discounts on medicines, medical services, etc. ) and Disability Pensions from the Government Insurance Service System (GSIS). However, these are largely limited and ineffective because the discounts can only be availed of by non-poor PWDs (who are the only ones who can afford to buy medicine, go to the hospital, or eat in a restaurant in the first place), while GSIS Benefits are only for government employees. Retirement programs rely solely on contributions from employment during the lifetime of a person which is not available to people with disabilities that have not had the opportunity to work because of disability-based discrimination or the lack of work-related disability accommodation. The main poverty-alleviation program of the government is the CCT. Over 90% of the national budget for the Department of Social Welfare is for the CCT. It addresses MDGs on maternal / infant mortality, health and education. It documents (but does not target) disability in Household Assessments which identify the poor. Furthermore, the Philippine CCT does not utilize disability in the Proxy Means Test in determining who the poor are. Thus, the presence of a PWD in a household is given little consideration. Although NHTS-PR identified 305,729 households with members with disabilities, not all of them benefits from the CCT program. In a NCR survey conducted by PIDS in 2008, poverty incidence among households with a person with disability is 40%. This is considerably high compared to the 7. 1% (the lowest among 17 regions) poverty incidence in the general population. The poverty incidence rate is higher in other regions not as developed as the NCR. The mainstream poverty-alleviation programs will always have households with a person with disability as beneficiaries because of the fact that they are poor. Success of these programs is very limited and temporary in the sector. Most of these programs did not consider the additional disability-related expenses (especially for those with extensive disabilities) which are over and above the usual expenditures in a household where no member has a disability. Common disability-related expenses are medicines, assistive devices and maintenance (i. e. wheelchair), medical supplies (i. e. urine bag, catheter), diaper and others. Even if the person with disability has a source of income (job), a big chunk of the earning goes to the disability-related expenses. The table below illustrates this. Person w/o disability Blind Deaf Wheelchair user Wheelchair user with PA Transportation P56-P78 P56-P156 P56-P78 P400 P400 Meals P50 P50 P50 P50 P50 Employment related deductions Cost of specialized support such as PA, Sign Language Interpreter none. Depends P 426. 00 (P53. 25/hour) Depends (sign language interpreter costs P312. 50/hr) None P426. 00 (P53. 25/hr) In cases where a family member has an extensive disability, another person is required to be present. This is usually a parent, a sibling or a child. If they belong to the working age group, it translates to one earning-capacity not utilized and income for the household not realized. This unrealized income plus the additional disability-related expenses compounds the financial and economic situation of a household with a person with disability. A poor household with a person with disability given the same amount of financial assistance as part of the mainstream program (e. g. 4Ps) given to a household with no person with disability will not be able to get out of poverty. Aside from the lack of necessary social support services and poor compliance to existing laws (i. e. Accessibility Law) that will greatly impact the social inclusion of persons with disabilities, the conditions of certain programs will work against the realization of the envisioned goal if the financial situation of affected households is not considered. A program giving strong consideration to this is necessary. The Government has legal, social and economic responsibilities to take care of the people. The bigger picture will show that having a disability does not affect only the person but also the family. Addressing the needs of the sector of persons with disabilities will arrest the cycle of disability and poverty. This will result to a lesser economic burden for the government of the affected sector of the population. Disability pension is supplemental to the mainstream poverty-alleviation programs. This will target the additional disability-related expenses of the individual. This will give purchasing power for products and services that will result to equalization of opportunity and social inclusion of persons with disabilities. Proposed budget: No. of beneficiaries (HH identified by NHTS-PR) Amount of cash grant Frequency Total 305,729 500. 00 12 (months) 1,834,374,000.

Stop Procrastinating and Complete Your Dissertation

Stop Procrastinating and Complete Your Dissertation Are you an ABD (All-But-Dissertation) student? Doctoral dissertation looming over your head like an ominous black cloud? The dissertation is the most difficult and time-consuming academic requirement a doctoral student faces. Its way too easy to procrastinate and put off writing your dissertation under the guise, I need to read more before I can write. Dont fall into that trap! Dont let your dissertation drag you down. Stop your procrastination. Why do we procrastinate? Research suggests that students often procrastinate when they perceive the dissertation as an overwhelming task. Big surprise, huh? Motivation is the biggest problem that grad students face in writing the dissertation. A Lonely Time The dissertation is a time consuming and lonely process that usually takes about two years (and often longer). The dissertation often is a major blow to a graduate students self-esteem. It is not uncommon to feel as if its an insurmountable task that will never be completed. Organization and Time Management are Key The keys to completing the dissertation promptly are organization and time management. The lack of structure is the difficult part of the dissertation because the students role is to plan, carry out, and write up a research project (sometimes several). A structure must be applied in order to complete this task. One way of providing structure is to view the dissertation as a series of steps, rather than as one mammoth task. Motivation may be maintained and even enhanced as each small step is completed. Organization provides a sense of control, holds procrastination at minimal levels, and is key to completing the dissertation. How do you get organized? Outline the small steps needed to complete this large project.All too often, students may feel that their only goal is to finish the thesis. A goal this large may feel indomitable; break it down into the component tasks. For example, at the proposal stage, the tasks may be organized as follows: thesis statement, literature review, method, plan for analyses.   Each of these tasks entails many smaller tasks. The list for the literature review may consist of an outline of the topics you wish to discuss, with each outlined as detailed as possible. You may even wish to list relevant articles in the appropriate places within the outline. The method will consist of the participants, including items on locating them, rewards, drafting informed consent forms, locating measures, describing psychometric properties of the measures, piloting measures, drafting the procedure, etc. The hardest parts of writing your dissertation is starting and staying on track. So how do you write your dissertation? Read on for tips on how to write your dissertation and successfully complete your graduate program. Start Anywhere In terms of completing your list of dissertation tasks, it is not necessary to start at the beginning. In fact, believing that one starts the dissertation proposal by writing his or her introduction and thesis and ends with the plan for analyses will detain progress. Begin where you feel comfortable and fill in the gaps. You will find that you gain momentum with the completion of each small task. Feeling overwhelmed by any particular task is a sign that you have not broken it down into small enough pieces. Make Consistent Progress Writing Every Day, Even if Only for a Short Period. Set aside periods of time to write on a regular basis. Establish a firm schedule. Train yourself to write in short blocks, for at least an hour a day. All too often we insist that we need large blocks of time to write. Blocks of time certainly help the writing process, but the ABD often lacks such resources.   For example, when we were writing the dissertation, we taught 5 classes as an adjunct at 4 different schools; blocks of time were difficult to find, other than over the weekend. Aside from pragmatics, writing at least a little every day keeps the thesis topic fresh in your mind, leaving you open to new ideas and interpretations. You may even find yourself thinking about it and making conceptual progress as you complete mundane tasks such as driving to and from school and work. Use Incentives to Assist You in Overcoming Procrastination. Writing requires consistent, well-organized effort and a system of self-imposed incentives to overcome procrastination. What kind of incentives work? Although it depends on the individual, a safe bet is taking time off from work. We found vegetation time such as time spent playing computer games to be helpful as an incentive to reinforce progress. Methodically Break Through Writers Block. When it is difficult to write, talk through your ideas to anyone who will listen, or just talk out loud to yourself. Write out your thoughts without criticizing them. Take time to warm up, by writing to clear your thoughts. Get the ideas out without scrutinizing each sentence; it is often easier to edit than it is to write. Work through your ideas by writing, THEN edit extensively. You will write many drafts of each section of the dissertation; a first (second, or even third) draft need not approach perfection. In addition, it is acceptable to use dashes to mark when you cannot find the appropriate word to express your idea, but want to go on; just remember to fill in the dashes later. The important thing is that you develop a pattern of producing some output regularly that output can be edited or even thrown out, but it is important to produce something. Recognize and Accept the Fact That Writing Is a Time-consuming Process. Dont Rush Yourself. No draft will be perfect that first time around. Expect to go through several drafts of each section of your dissertation. Once you feel comfortable with a particular section, take time away from it. Ask others to read your writing and consider their comments and criticisms with an open mind. After a few days or a week, reread the section and edit again; you may be quite surprised by the impact of a fresh perspective. Writing the dissertation is much like running a marathon. The seemingly insurmountable may be attained through a series of small goals and deadlines. Accomplishing each small goal may provide additional momentum. Make consistent progress each day, use incentives to assist you in attaining your goals, and acknowledge that the dissertation will require time, hard work, and patience. Finally, consider the words of Dag Hammarskjold: Never measure the height of a mountain, until you have reached the top. Then you will see how low it was.