10.7 million Filipino families rate themselves as poor

MANILA, Philippines — Forty-three percent or an estimated 10.7 million Filipinos believe they are poor, a 2021 Fourth Quarter survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

Results of the nationwide poll conducted from Dec. 12 to 16, 2021 and released yesterday said 39 percent rated themselves as borderline poor.

The SWS survey, covering a total of 1,440 respondents, showed that only 19 percent of Filipino families considered themselves as not poor.

In the previous survey conducted in September 2021, 45 percent or an estimated 11.4 million Filipino families felt poor, while 34 percent felt borderline poor and 21 percent rated themselves as not poor.

SWS said the two-point decline in self-rated poor families in the fourth quarter of 2021 was due to decreases in Mindanao and Metro Manila combined with slight increases in the Visayas and balance Luzon.

“Compared to September 2021, Self-Rated Poor fell in Mindanao from 58 percent to 43 percent and in Metro Manila from 34 percent to 25 percent. However, it rose slightly in the Visayas from 54 percent to 59 percent, and in Balance Luzon from 38 percent to 41 percent.

“On the other hand, Borderline Poor rose in Metro Manila from 30 percent to 47 percent and in Mindanao from 34 percent to 48 percent. It rose slightly in Balance Luzon from 32 percent to 34 percent but fell in the Visayas from 42 percent to 33 percent.”

Compared to September 2021, SWS said families rating themselves as not poor fell in Metro Manila from 37 percent to 28 percent as in the case of balance Luzon that likewise fell from 30 percent to 25 percent.

Survey results showed that those rating themselves as not poor rose slightly in the Visayas from four to eight percent, while it hardly changed in Mindanao from eight to nine percent.

The SWS polls further showed that 31 percent of Filipino families feel food-poor while 44 percent feel borderline food-poor and 24 percent feel they are not food-poor.

Comparing the latest data to the September 2021 survey where 30 percent felt food-poor, 44 percent felt borderline food-poor and 26 percent not food-poor, the estimated number of self-rated food poor families rose to 7.9 million in December 2021, from 7.5 million in September 2021.

The latest SWS survey results likewise showed that 6.9 percent or 1.7 million Filipino families who considered themselves as poor are “newly poor” while 1.1 million were usually poor and 7.8 million always poor.