1.4 M fewer families consider themselves poor — SWS

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino families who considered themselves poor dropped by 1.4 million in the second quarter of the year, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

The poll, taken from June 23 to 26, found 44 percent or about 10.1 million families who rated themselves poor, down six points from 50 percent or approximately 11.5 million registered in March.

Results of the new SWS poll on self-rated poverty were published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday, two days before President Duterte delivers his second State of the Nation Address.

When Duterte assumed office in June last year, self-rated poverty was at 45 percent, the SWS said. It fell to 42 percent in late September but rose to 44 percent by the end of December and to 50 percent in the first quarter.

SWS attributed the six-point decrease in self-rated poverty rate nationwide to declining poverty in balance Luzon and Metro Manila that offset slight increases in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Self-rated poverty declined by 16 points in balance Luzon to 34 percent and eight points in Metro Manila to 28 percent.

However, it rose seven points to 64 percent in the Visayas and went up four points in Mindanao to 57 percent.

The same survey also showed fewer families claiming to be “food-poor.”

The June 2017 survey found 32 percent or around 7.3 million families who considered their food as poor. This was three points below the 35 percent or about 8.1 million families registered in the first quarter of the year.

“Prior to this, self-rated food-poverty had been either steady or increasing since April 2016,” the SWS said.

The pollster noted the three-point improvement in self-rated food poverty in the second quarter of 2017 was due to drops of 15 points in balance Luzon to 27 percent and five points in Metro Manila to 16 percent.

However, self-rated poverty rose by 11 points in the Visayas to 44 percent and six points in Mindanao to 41 percent.

The poll also found that the families still lack half of the monthly budget threshold for them not to be considered poor in general.

 The median threshold, which refers to what the poorer half of the poor need for home expenses, are as follow: P20,000 in Metro Manila, P15,000 in balance Luzon, P10,000 in Visayas, and P10,000 in Mindanao.

The nationwide survey used 1,200 face-to-face interviews with heads of families.