A survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed that 46 percent of Filipino households, or 12.9 million families, considered themselves "mahirap" or poor in the first quarter of 2024, which is “similar” to 47 percent, or 13 million families, in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The survey conducted from March 21 to 25 also found that 23 percent of Filipino families rated themselves “hindi mahirap” or not poor, while 30 percent rated themselves “borderline,” by placing themselves on a horizontal line dividing poor and not poor.

“Compared to December 2023, the percentage of poor families hardly changed from 47 percent, while borderline families barely moved from 33 percent, and not poor families rose slightly from 20 percent,” SWS said in its report released on Thursday, April 25.

Poverty falls slightly in Mindanao, Metro Manila; rises in Visayas

SWS said the one-point decline in the nationwide self-rated poor between December 2023 and March 2024 was attributed to the slight decreases in Mindanao and Metro Manila (from 61 to 56 percent and from 37 to 33 percent, respectively), combined with an increase in the Visayas (from 58 to 64 percent in Visayas) and a steady score in Balance Luzon (from 39 to 38 percent).

Meanwhile, borderline fell in the Visayas from 35 to 25 percent.

However, it hardly changed in Metro Manila from 29 to 27 percent, Balance Luzon from 34 to 31 percent, and Mindanao from 32 to 35 percent.

SWS also noted that the not poor rose in Metro Manila from 35 to 41 percent, while it hardly changed in Balance Luzon from 27 to 30 percent, the Visayas from 7 to 11 percent, and Mindanao from 6 to 9 percent.

1.7 million families ‘newly poor’

SWS also asked the self-rated poor families if they had ever experienced being non-poor—either not poor or borderline—in the past.

The total percentage of poor families consisted of 6 percent who were non-poor one to four years ago (newly poor), 5.3 percent who were non-poor five or more years ago (usually poor), and 34.9 who never experienced being non-poor (always poor).

SWS said of the estimated 12.9 million self-rated poor families in March 2024, 1.7 million were newly poor, 1.5 million were usually poor, and 9.7 million were always poor.

It also noted that in the last nine quarters, the national median self-rated poverty threshold (SRP Threshold) stayed at P15,000, while the national median self-rated poverty gap (SRP Gap) fell from P7,000 in December 2023 to P5,000 in March 2024.

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—that is belt-tightening, it added.

“In the past, the median SRP Gap has generally been half of the median SRP Threshold. This means that typical poor families lack about half of what they need to not consider themselves poor. 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 pointed out.

The first quarter of 2024 SWS survey was conducted from March 21-25 through face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults nationwide.