16.3 million Filipino families consider themselves poor
MANILA, Philippines — More than half of Filipino families considered themselves poor as of September, according to a new survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
In the survey released on Wednesday, October 9, the SWS found that 59% of Filipino families see themselves as poor. This translates to 16.3 million families.
The previous SWS survey found the self-rated poverty at 58% in June, or 16 million families. This means there are around 300,000 more families who have started to consider themselves poor since June.
The SWS found there was a sharp increase of self-rated poverty in Metro Manila.
“Compared to June 2024, Self-Rated Poverty rose by 13 points in Metro Manila from 39%, and by three points in Balance Luzon from 52%. However, it fell slightly by five points in the Visayas from 67%, and four points in Mindanao from 71%,” the SWS said.
Despite this increase, Metro Manila still has the lowest self-rated poverty rate. The current self-rated poverty per area now stands at:
- Metro Manila: 52%
- Balance Luzon: 55%
- Visayas: 62%
- Mindanao: 67%
Meanwhile, 13% of Filipino families consider themselves borderline poor as of September, which is a one point increase from the 12% in June. A total of 28% of Filipino families consider themselves not poor, which is a two point decrease from June.
The SWS found that 9.1% of families are now “newly poor,” meaning that they used to label each other not poor, but now they do.
Self-rated food poverty among Filipino families is at 46% in September, remaining unchanged from June.
A total of 17% rated themselves borderline food poor while 37% labeled themselves as not food poor.
Like the self-rated poverty rate, the self-rated food poverty rate increased due to a sharp increase in Metro Manila.
“Compared to June 2024, Self-Rated Food Poverty rose by eight points in Metro Manila from 31%. However, it barely changed in Balance Luzon from 42%, and the Visayas from 50%, while it stayed at 61% in Mindanao,” the SWS said.
Here are the self-rated food poverty rates per area:
- Metro Manila: 39%
- Balance Luzon: 39%
- Visayas: 49%
- Mindanao: 61%
The Self-Rated Poverty Threshold, which is the minimum household income that families say they need to not consider themselves poor, is at P12,000. This is a decrease from the consistent P15,000 from April 2022 to June 2024.
The SWS surveyed 1,500 adults nationwide from September 14 to 23 using face-to-face interviews. Per area, 600 people were interviewed in Balance Luzon, while 300 people were interviewed each from Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao. There is a sampling error of ±2.5%.
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