Forty-three percent or an estimated 11.3 million families in the country consider themselves poor in the first quarter of 2023, findings in the March 2023 OCTA First Quarter survey results released on Friday, June 2, showed.
According to the OCTA’s “Tugon ng Masa” survey conducted from March 24 to 28 among 1,200 respondents, this is higher compared to the last quarter survey in 2022 which is 10.8M families, putting an additional 500,000 poor Filipino families.
Compared to other major areas, Balanced Luzon has the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who consider their families poor (47 percent). The increase in the number of self-rated poor families was mainly due to the increase in Balanced Luzon from 33 percent to 47 percent.
OCTA said that among adult Filipinos who consider their families poor, the median amount that they need for home expenses in order not to be called poor anymore is P20,000 per month. Furthermore, the median additional amount for a family in order not to be called poor anymore is P5,000 per month. These amounts are the same as the survey in the last quarter of 2022.
Compared to the last survey, there is a significant increase in Filipino families that rate themselves as poor in Balanced Luzon 14 percentage points). Meanwhile, Visayas and Mindanao decreased (11 percentage points for both). Furthermore, NCR has relatively remained the same as the difference of 3 percentage points from the last survey is within the survey’s margin of error of ±3%.
Hunger
Meanwhile, on hunger, 16 percent or an estimated 4.2 million Filipino families experienced hunger in the first quarter of 2023.
Around 16 percent or an estimated 4.2 million families indicated that they experienced hunger in the last three months. OCTA said that is a "nominal" increase from the last quarter survey conducted last October 2022.
Across major areas, it is highest in Visayas where 26 percent experienced hunger, followed by Balance Luzon at 14 percent, while Mindanao and NCR at 13 percent and 10%, respectively.
There is a significant increase on Filipino families that experienced hunger in Visayas (18 percentage points) and Balanced Luzon (6 percentage points). Meanwhile, NCR (7 percentage points) and Mindanao (5 percentage points) has decreased.
Among those whose families have experienced hunger in the last three months, 92 percent said that they experienced hunger either only once or a few times while only 8 percent experienced hunger often or always.
Food poverty
On the other hand, when it comes to food poverty, 40 percent or an estimated 10.5 million families in the country consider themselves food poor in the first quarter of 2023.
About 40 percent or an estimated 10.5 million families in the country consider themselves food poor in the first quarter of 2023. This is almost the same compared to the last quarter survey in 2022 which is about 39 percent.
Across major areas, it is in Balanced Luzon where the percentage of adult Filipinos who consider their families food poor is the highest at 46 percent. There is an increase in the number of self-rated food-poor families in NCR (26 percent to 34 percent) and Balanced Luzon (34 percent to 46 percent) while there is a decrease in Visayas (43 percent to 28 percent) and Mindanao (51 percent to 42 percent).
Moreover, among those who consider their families food poor, the average amount that they need for food expenses in order not to be called poor anymore remains the same at P10,000 per month.
On the other hand, the average additional amount that they need for food expenses in order not to be called poor anymore is P5,000 pesos per month which is P1000 higher than in the last quarter survey in 2022.