Filipino families considering themselves poor rise to 5-year high in Q4
MANILA, Philippines — The proportion of Filipino families considering themselves poor surged to a five-year high of 13.1 million in the final three months of 2019, a new Social Weather Stations survey released Thursday found.
Results of a December 13 to 16 poll of 1,200 adults showed self-rated poverty climbed 54% in the fourth quarter, 12 points higher than 42% (estimated 10.3 million families) recorded in the preceding three months.
The latest reading was the highest since the 55% registered in September 2014 and brought the 2019 average to 45%, lower than 2018’s 48%.
“By area, the [self-rated poverty] rates are 67% in the Visayas, 64% in Mindanao, 47% in Balance Luzon, and 41% in Metro Manila,” the pollster said.
According to SWS, 1.6 million Filipino households became “newly poor” in the fourth quarter last year. The report also revealed that as of December, poor families said they need a minimum monthly budget of P12,000 to survive, but they lack P5,000 of that amount.
Meanwhile, 35% of respondents, or an estimated 8.6 million families, rated the food they eat as “poor” in the fourth quarter. SWS said poor households need a minimum monthly food budget of P5,000 so they can afford foods that are not considered poor, but they lack P3,000 of the required amount.
Last month, the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that poverty incidence among individuals — or the proportion of Filipinos whose incomes fell below the poverty threshold — stood at 16.6% in 2018, lower than the revised 23.3% recorded in 2015.
The latest poverty result translates to a reduction of around 5.9 million poor individuals to 17.6 million in 2018 compared to 23.5 million in 2015.
The Duterte administration wants to slash poverty incidence to 11% by 2022, a more ambitious goal than their original target of 14%.
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