The percentage of Filipino families who consider themselves “mahirap” or poor slightly increased to 52 percent in March, equivalent to around 14.4 million households, based on the Stratbase-Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted from March 15 to 20.

This figure was up from 51 percent (14.3 million families) in February 2025, following a decline from 63 percent in December 2024 to 50 percent in January 2025.

The March survey also found that 12 percent of families rated themselves as “borderline,” placing themselves on a line dividing poor and not poor, while 36 percent rated themselves as “hindi mahirap” or not poor.

SWS noted that the one-point increase in self-rated poverty from February to March was due to slight increases in the Visayas and Balance Luzon—or Luzon outside Metro Manila—combined with slight decreases in Mindanao and Metro Manila.

Self-rated poverty in March was highest in the Visayas at 62 percent, followed by Mindanao at 60 percent, Balance Luzon at 46 percent, and Metro Manila at 41 percent.

Compared to February, self-rated poverty rose slightly by five points from 57 percent in the Visayas and by three points from 43 percent in Balance Luzon.

However, it fell slightly by five points in Mindanao (from 65 percent) and by five points in Metro Manila (from 46 percent).

Hunger rises sharply among poor families

A separate survey on hunger conducted during the same period—released earlier—showed that 27.2 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger, defined as being hungry and not having anything to eat, at least once in the past three months.

READ MORE: https://mb.com.ph/2025/3/29/sws-hunger-incidence-soars-nationwide-in-march-2025

“Hunger occurs at different rates among the poor and the non-poor. At any single point in time, hunger is usually higher among the poor. From quarter to quarter, however, the hunger rates among the poor and the non-poor may change, either upward or downward,” SWS pointed out.

It said the rate of total hunger (i.e., moderate plus severe) rose sharply among the self-rated poor, from 26.4 percent in February to 35.6 percent in March.

It also rose slightly among non-poor (not poor plus borderline poor), from 16.2 percent to 18.3 percent.

The Stratbase-SWS March 2025 National Survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,800 registered voters aged 18 and above, nationwide: 300 in Metro Manila, 900 in Balance Luzon, 300 in the Visayas, and 300 in Mindanao.

The survey has a sampling error margin of ±2.31 percent for national percentages, ±3.27 percent for Balance Luzon, and ±5.66 percent each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.