2.8 million families considered newly poor – SWS

MANILA, Philippines —  An estimated 2.8 million Filipino families are considered “newly poor” in the last quarter of 2024, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on self-rated poverty showed.

The survey, which found that the country’s self-rated poverty reached its highest in 21 years, asked respondents if they had ever experienced being “non-poor” in the past.

Some 10.2 percent were “non-poor” one to four years ago, described by SWS as “newly poor,” while 7.6 percent said they were “non-poor” five or more years ago, described as “usually poor.”

The remaining 44.7 percent were described as “always poor” or those who never experienced being “non-poor.”

The survey, conducted from Dec. 12 to 18, found that the self-rated poverty reached 63 percent, the highest since the 64 percent obtained in November 2003.

It was up four points from the 59 percent in September 2024, with the annual self-rated poverty average for 2024 reaching 57 percent. It was nine points above the average of 48 percent in 2022 and 2023 and the highest annual average since 2003, when the average reached 60 percent.

Meanwhile, those who rated their families as “not poor” in the latest survey decreased from 28 percent to 26 percent, while those who were “borderline poor” decreased from 13 percent to 11 percent.

Collectively, those who were “not poor” and “borderline poor” were classified by SWS as “non-poor” families.

The latest poll translated to 17.4 million poor Filipino families, composed of 2.8 million who were “newly poor,” 2.1 million who were “usually poor” and 12.4 million who were “always poor.”

Meanwhile, the “non-poor” in the December 2024 poll were composed of 14.4 percent “newly non-poor” or those who were poor one to four years ago (four million families); 10.9 percent “usually non-poor” or were poor five or more years ago (three million); and 11.7 percent “always non-poor” or who never experienced being poor (3.3 million).

The SWS Fourth Quarter survey had 2,160 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus two percent.

The respondents were shown a card with the choices “Hindi Mahirap (Not Poor)” and “Mahirap (Poor),” separated by a line, which was recorded as “borderline.” The choices were in reverse for half of the respondents to lessen response bias, SWS said.