About 47 percent of Filipino families have rated themselves as “mahirap” or poor in the fourth quarter of 2023, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey revealed on Wednesday, Jan. 17.

Based on the survey conducted from Dec. 8 to 11, 2023, 20 percent of Filipino households classified themselves as “hindi mahirap” or “not poor,” and 33 percent rated themselves as “borderline,” by placing themselves on a horizontal line that divides poor and not poor.

“Compared to September 2023, the percentage of poor families hardly moved from 48 percent, while borderline families rose by six points from 27 percent, and not poor families fell by five points from 25 percent,” SWS said in its report.

“This brings the 2023 annual average Self-Rated Poor families to 48 percent, the same as in 2022 and three points above the pre-pandemic average of 45 percent in 2019,” it added.

SWS estimated 13 million self-rated poor families in December 2023 and 13.2 million in September 2023.

“Of the estimated 13 million self-rated poor families in December 2023, 2.2 million were newly poor, 1.6 million were usually poor, and 9.2 million were always poor,” SWS said.

Self-rated poverty falls in Mindanao, rises slightly in Balance Luzon

SWS explained that the one-point drop in the nationwide self-rated poor figure between September 2023 and December 2023 was due to a decrease in Mindanao, combined with a slight increase in Balance Luzon, or Luzon outside Metro Manila, and steady scores in Metro Manila and the Visayas.

“Compared to September 2023, Self-Rated Poor fell in Mindanao from 71 to 61 percent. However, it rose slightly in Balance Luzon from 35 to 39 percent. It hardly moved in Metro Manila from 38 to 37 percent, and the Visayas from 59 to 58 percent,” it said.

Meanwhile, SWS noted that borderline score rose in Balance Luzon from 25 to 34 percent, and Mindanao from 25 to 32 percent.

However, it hardly moved in the Visayas from 32 to 35 percent, while it stayed at 29 percent in Metro Manila.

At the same time, SWS said not poor score hardly moved in Metro Manila from 33 to 35 percent, Mindanao from 4 to 6 percent, and the Visayas from 8 to 7 percent.

However, it fell in Balance Luzon from 40 to 27 percent.

Self-rated poverty threshold rises in Balance Luzon, steady elsewhere

SWS noted that in the last eight quarters, the national median Self-Rated Poverty Threshold (SRP Threshold) stayed at P15,000, while the national median Self-Rated Poverty Gap (SRP Gap) rose from P5,000 in September 2023 to P7,000 in December 2023.

In Metro Manila, the median SRP Threshold stayed at P20,000 from September 2023 to December 2023, while the median SRP Gap stayed at P10,000.

In Balance Luzon, the median SRP Threshold rose from P13,500 to P15,000, while the median SRP Gap rose from P5,000 to P6,000.

In the Visayas, the median SRP Threshold stayed at P15,000, while the median SRP Gap fell from P6,000 to P5,000.

In Mindanao, the median SRP Threshold stayed at 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 say 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 added.

The Fourth Quarter 2023 SWS survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.

The sampling error margins are ±2.8 percent for national percentages and ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.