A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey made public on Sunday, May 7 revealed that 51 percent of Filipino families considered themselves as “mahirap” or “poor,” 30 percent rated themselves as “borderline” or in-between poor and non-poor, and 19 percent considered themselves as “hindi mahirap” or “not poor.”

According to SWS, the results of the March 26-29 survey are similar to the December 2022 survey, in which poor families were at 51 percent, borderline families were at 31 percent, and not poor families were at 19 percent.

“The estimated numbers of self-rated poor families are 14 million in March 2023 and 12.9 million in December 2022,” SWS said.

(Social Weather Stations)

It attributed the “steady” nationwide self-rated poor figure between December 2022 and March 2023 to the “increases in Metro Manila and the Visayas, combined with a decline in Balance Luzon, or Luzon outside Metro Manila) and a steady score in Mindanao.”

“Compared to December 2022, self-rated poor rose in Metro Manila from 32 percent to 40 percent and in the Visayas from 58 percent to 65 percent. However, it fell in Balance Luzon from 49 percent to 43 percent, while it was statistically steady in Mindanao, moving from 59 percent to 62 percent,” SWS said.

Meanwhile, it noted that borderline figures did not statistically change in Metro Manila from 29 percent to 26 percent, in Balance Luzon from 30 percent to 32 percent, and in Mindanao from 30 percent to 33 percent. 

However, it fell in the Visayas from 34 percent to 26 percent.

At the same time, SWS said the not poor figures rose in Balance Luzon from 20 percent to 25 percent, but fell in Metro Manila from 39 percent to 33 percent and in Mindanao from 11 percent to 6 percent, while it did not change in the Visayas at 9 percent.

6.5% of families“newly poor”

The latest SWS survey also asked the self-rated Poor if they had ever experienced being non-poor, either not poor or borderline, in the past. 

SWS found that the total percentage of poor families consisted of 6.5 percent who were non-poor one to four years ago, 6.7 percent who were non-poor five or more years ago, and 37.9 percent who never experienced being non-poor.

It classified those who were non-poor one to four years ago as “newly poor,” those who are non-poor five or more years ago as “usually poor,” and those who never experience being non-poor as “always poor.”

“Of the estimated 14.0 million self-rated poor families in March 2023, 1.8 million were newly poor, 1.8 million were usually poor, and 10.4 million were always poor,” it said.

The survey also asked those who were self-rated non-poor, either borderline or not poor, if they had ever experienced being poor in the past. 

“The total percentage of non-poor families consists of 17.7 percent who were poor 1-4 years ago (newly non-poor), 9.5 percent who were poor five or more years ago (usually non-poor), and 21.7 percent who never experienced being poor (always non-poor),” SWS said.

According to SWS, of the estimated 13.4 million self-rated non-poor families in March 2023, 4.8 million were newly non-poor, 2.6 million were usually non-poor, and 5.9 million were always non-poor.

Self-rated poverty threshold rises in Metro Manila, steady elsewhere

According to SWS, the self-rated poverty (SRP) threshold, or the minimum monthly budget self-rated poor families say they need for home expenses in order not to consider themselves poor, has remained sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation. 

“This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards, i.e., belt-tightening,” it said.

“In the last five quarters, the national median SRP threshold stayed at P15,000, while the national median self-rated poverty gap (SRP gap) rose from P5,000 in December 2022 to P6,000 in March 2023,” it pointed out.

SWS explained that an increase in the proportion of the median SRP gap relative to the median SRP threshold means a worsening in families’ budget for home expenses.

It said that in Metro Manila, the median SRP threshold rose from P15,000 in December 2022 to P20,000 in March 2023, while the median SRP Gap rose from P6,000 to P10,000.

The median SRP threshold stayed at P15,000, while the median SRP Gap rose from P5,000 to P6,000 in Balance Luzon.

In the Visayas, the median SRP threshold stayed at P15,000, while the median SRP gap stayed at P7,000, while in Mindanao, the median SRP threshold stayed at P10,000, while the median SRP gap stayed at P5,000.

The First Quarter 2023 SWS survey was conducted from March 26-29, 2023, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.