About 49 percent of Filipino families or an estimated 12.6 million households have rated themselves as “mahirap” or poor, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released on Thursday, Oct. 20.
The nationwide survey conducted from Sept. 29 to Oct. 2 is the first under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
Of the 1,500 respondents, 49 percent rated themselves as poor, 29 percent rated themselves as borderline—or placed themselves on a horizontal line dividing poor and not poor—and 21 percent rated themselves as “hindi mahirap” or “not poor.”
“Compared to June 2022, the percentage of poor families hardly moved from 48 percent, while borderline families fell slightly from 31 percent, and not poor families stayed at 21 percent,” SWS said.
It pointed out that the estimated numbers of self-rated poor families are 12.6 million in October 2022 and 12.2 million in June 2022.
According to SWS, the one-point increase in the nationwide self-rated poor between June 2022 and October 2022 was due to slight increases in the Visayas (from 64 percent to 68 percent), Metro Manila (from 41 percent to 44 percent), and Mindanao (from 62 percent to 64 percent), combined with a steady percentage in Balance Luzon, or Luzon outside Metro Manila (36 percent).
Meanwhile, those in the borderline fell slightly in the Visayas from 26 percent to 21 percent, in Mindanao from 31 percent to 28 percent, and in Balance Luzon from 36 percent to 35 percent.
It hardly moved in Metro Manila from 22 percent to 23 percent.
Moreover, those not poor hardly moved in Balance Luzon from 28 percent to 29 percent, in the Visayas from 10 percent to 11 percent, and in Mindanao from 7 percent to 8 percent.
It fell in Metro Manila from 37 percent to 33 percent.
7.7% of families are ‘newly poor’
The October 2022 survey asked the self-rated poor if they ever experienced being non-poor—either not poor or borderline—in the past.
“The total percentage of poor families consists of 7.7 percent who were non-poor 1-4 years ago (newly poor), 4.0 percent who were non-poor five or more years ago (usually poor), and 37.7 percent who never experienced being non-poor (always poor),” SWS said.
Of the estimated 12.6 million self-rated poor families in October 2022, 2.0 million were newly poor, 1.0 million were usually poor, and 9.6 million were always poor.“
Conversely, the survey asked those who were self-rated non-poor (either Borderline or Not Poor) if they ever experienced being poor in the past.
The total percentage of non-poor families consists of 18.9 percent who were poor 1-4 years ago (newly non-poor), 8.0 percent who were poor five or more years ago (usually non-poor), and 23.6 percent who never experienced being poor (always non-poor).
34% of families feel food-poor
Based on the type of food eaten by their families, the October 2022 survey found 34 percent of families rating themselves as “food-poor,” 38 percent rated themselves as “food borderline” (by placing themselves on the horizontal line dividing food-poor and not food-poor), and 28 percent rated themselves “not food-poor.”
“Compared to June 2022, the percentage of Food-Poor families stayed at 34 percent, Food Borderline families fell slightly from 40 percent, and Not Food-Poor families rose slightly from 26 percent,” SWS said.
There were 8.7 million food-poor families in both October 2022 and June 2022 surveys.
Food-poor rises in all areas except in Balance LuzonAccording to SWS, the steady self-rated food-poor percentage from June 2022 to October 2022 was due to increases in the Visayas (37 percent to 44 percent), Mindanao (45 percent from 50 percent), and Metro Manila (31 percent to 33 percent), combined with a decrease in Balance Luzon (28 percent to 22 percent).
Poverty threshold rises in Metro Manila, Mindanao; falls in Visayas
“In the last three quarters, the national median Self-Rated Poverty Threshold (SRP Threshold) stayed at P15,000, while the national median Self-Rated Poverty Gap (SRP Gap) stayed at P6,000,” SWS said.
In Metro Manila, the median SRP threshold rose from P15,000 to P20,000, while the median SRP gap rose from P5,000 to P9,000.
In Balance Luzon, the median SRP threshold stayed at P15,000, while the median SRP gap fell from P7,000 to P5,000.In the Visayas, the median SRP threshold fell from a record-high P20,000 to P15,000, while the median SRP gap fell from P9,000 to P6,000.
In Mindanao, the median SRP threshold rose from P10,000 to P15,000, while the median SRP gap rose from P5,000 to P7,000.
The SRP threshold, or the minimum monthly budget self-rated poor families said they need for home expenses in order not to consider themselves poor, has remained sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation, SWS said.
“This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards, i.e., belt-tightening,” it pointed out.