Half of Filipino families still rate themselves poor — SWS
MANILA, Philippines — Half of Filipino families or around 14 million households considered themselves poor during the first quarter of 2023, according to a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations.
The poll conducted from March 26 to 29 found 51% of Filipino families rating themselves as poor, similar to the figure recorded in December 2022.
Thirty-one percent of families considered themselves borderline poor, while 19% said they were not poor.
Of the 14 million families who rated themselves poor in March, 1.8 million were newly poor, 1.8 million were usually poor, and 10.4 million were always poor. Meanwhile, 4.8 million families joined the 12.6 million households who considered themselves not poor.
SWS attributed the “steady” nationwide self-rated poor figure to an eight-point increase in Manila to 40% and seven-point rise in Visayas to 65%, combined with a six-point decline to 43% in Balance Luzon. It was statistically steady in Mindanao, moving to 62% from 59%.
At the time of the survey, inflation slowed down to 8.6% in February, slightly below 8.7% in January. Inflation further eased in April to 6.6% from 7.6% in March due to slower increases in food, transport and utility prices.
The number of families who said they were on the border between poor and not poor did not statistically change in Metro Manila to 29% from 26%, in Balance Luzon to 32% from 30%, and in Mindanao to 33% from 30%. It, however, fell in Visayas to 26% from 34%.
Families who said they were not poor rose in Balance Luzon by five points to 25%. However, the number of not poor families decreased in Metro Manila by six points to 33% and in Mindanao by five points to 6%, while it did not change in Visayas at 9%
SWS said the self-rated poverty threshold, or the minimum monthly budget poor families said they needed for household expenses in order not to consider themselves poor, stayed at P15,000.
In the capital region, the median SRP threshold rose to P20,000 in March from P15,000 in December. In Balance Luzon and Visayas, the median SRP threshold stayed at P15,000, while it stayed at P10,000 in Mindanao.
More self-rated food-poor Filipinos
The March survey also found the number of families who described themselves to be food-poor rose to 39% in March from 34% in December, representing 10.6 million households.
The percentage of families who found themselves to be in the border between food-poor and not food-poor stayed at 38%, while the percentage of not food-poor remained at 26%.
The pollster said the rise in the number of self-rated food-poor families was due to seven-point increases in Visayas to 45% and in Mindanao to 33%. It rose slightly in Metro Manila to 33% from 29%, and in Balance Luzon to 31% from 28%.
According to the SWS, the self-rated food poverty threshold rose to P8,000 from P7,000, while the median self-rated food poverty gap remained at P3,000 like in the past six quarters.
The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults. The sampling error margins were ±2.8% for national percentages, and ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. — Gaea Katreena Cabico
- Latest
- Trending
