Self-rated poor increases in Q2 2024 — SWS
At A Glance
- Fifty-eight percent of Filipino families, estimated at 16 million households, considered themselves "mahirap" or "poor."
- This was a significant increase of 12 percentage points from March, when 46 percent, or about 12.9 million families, reported feeling poor.
- About 7.2 percent of families were non-poor one to four years ago (newly poor), 8.2 percent were non-poor five or more years ago (usually poor), and 42.2 percent had never experienced being non-poor (always poor).
A survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) from June 23 to July 1 revealed that 58 percent of Filipino families, estimated at 16 million households, considered themselves “mahirap” or “poor.”
This was a significant increase of 12 percentage points from March, when 46 percent, or about 12.9 million families, reported feeling poor.
In the survey results released on Thursday, July 18, 30 percent of Filipino families rated themselves as “hindi mahirap” or “not poor,” while 12 percent rated themselves as “borderline” by placing themselves on a horizontal line dividing poor and not poor.
SWS noted that the percentage of “not poor” families was seven points above the 23 percent reported in March, while the percentage of borderline families was 18 points lower than the 30 percent recorded in the previous survey.
7.2% are ‘newly poor’
SWS said it has asked the self-rated poor if they had ever experienced being non-poor—either not poor or borderline—in the past.
It found that among the self-rated poor families, 7.2 percent were non-poor one to four years ago (newly poor), 8.2 percent were non-poor five or more years ago (usually poor), and 42.2 percent had never experienced being non-poor (always poor).
Of the estimated 16 million self-rated poor families in June 2024, this translated to 2 million being newly poor, 2.3 million usually poor, and 11.7 million always poor.
Self-rated poor rises in all areas
SWS attributed the 12-point increase in the nationwide self-rated poor figure between March and June to rises in Mindanao (from 56 percent to 71 percent), Balance Luzon—or Luzon outside Metro Manila (from 38 percent to 52 percent), and Metro Manila (from 33 percent to 39 percent), coupled with a slight uptick in the Visayas (from 64 percent to 67 percent).
Meanwhile, the percentage of borderline families decreased across all regions: in Mindanao, from 35 percent in March to 11 percent in June; in Balance Luzon, from 31 percent to 11 percent; in Metro Manila, from 27 percent to 15 percent; and in the Visayas, from 25 percent to 15 percent.
However, the percentage of “not poor” families rose in Mindanao, from 9 percent to 17 percent; in Balance Luzon, from 30 percent to 37 percent; in the Visayas, from 11 percent to 18 percent; and in Metro Manila, from 41 percent to 46 percent.
The Second Quarter 2024 SWS Survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults aged 18 years and above nationwide.