Some Filipinos classified as “non-poor” may actually be living in poverty, as current measurement methods fail to capture how resources are shared within households, according to state-run think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

In a statement on Friday, April 24, PIDS said that poverty data based on household averages can mask real conditions, where not all members benefit equally from income, citing studies presented during a webinar last April 16.

“Official figures assume that every household member receives an equal slice of income,” PIDS supervising research specialist Deanne Lorraine Cabalfin said. “This design makes intra-household inequality invisible, and systematically misses the gender gap.”

Using household survey data in a study titled “Measuring Poverty within Filipino Households: Examining Resource Sharing and Economies of Scale,” researchers found that women receive only 25 to 43 percent of household resources, while children may receive as little as seven to 19 percent each, especially in larger families.

“Many children that may be living in non-poor households may, in fact, be considered poor,” Cabalfin said.

The findings suggest that individuals—particularly women and children—may experience deprivation even if their households are not classified as poor in official statistics.

Development practitioner Christian Deloria of the BRAC International Ultra-Poor Graduation Initiative said this reflects a broader pattern seen not only in the Philippines but globally, where many households remain trapped just above the poverty line.

“These are all poverty traps na kung hindi natin ma-address, ay patuloy na hindi makakaahon sa kahirapan ang mga tao,” he said.

Deloria said poverty is shaped not only by income levels but also by limited access to opportunities, exposure to risks, and structural constraints that prevent families from moving upward.

Researchers also warned that a much larger group of Filipinos remains at risk of falling into poverty. While poverty incidence among families was estimated at around 11 percent in 2023, about 30 percent of Filipino households are considered vulnerable, meaning they could fall into poverty when exposed to shocks such as job loss, illnesses, disasters, or rising costs.

Drawing from the PIDS study, “The Middle Class and Vulnerability to Income Poverty: Implications for Social Protection in the Philippines,” PIDS senior research fellow Jose Ramon Albert said many families who are not officially classified as poor today could still fall into poverty, particularly among low-income households, rural communities, and even segments of the middle class.

“Ang punto lang po natin dito is hindi lang po reducing o pagbaba ng poverty ang kailangan kundi ma-prevent po natin ang households from becoming poor in the future,” Albert said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said the findings highlight the need to strengthen social protection systems to better respond to both current poverty and future risks.

“Ang swiftness ng intervention ay critical sa pag-address sa crisis... ito po ‘yong susi upang maiwasan ‘yong lalo pang pagkalugmok ng mga sector na naapektuhan ngayon,” said DSWD policy development and planning bureau officer-in-charge (OIC)-director Hannah Giray-Carcido.

She added that gains in poverty reduction may be overstated if inequalities within households are not taken into account.

“Maaaring overestimated ang perceived gains... dahil sa assumption na pantay-pantay ‘yong resources sa loob ng household,” Giray-Carcido said.

She said social protection is shifting toward a more proactive approach that prioritizes resilience and prevention.

The findings come as Filipino households face rising costs and other pressures that can quickly push vulnerable families into poverty and expose hardships that official figures may not fully capture.

A related PIDS study earlier warned that rising oil prices amid the war in the Middle East could push around 1.3 million more Filipinos into poverty, with the national poverty rate potentially rising to 14.4 percent from a pre-shock baseline projection of 13.2 percent.