MANILA, Philippines — Nearly half or 48% of Filipino families rated themselves as poor during the third quarter of the year, up by about three points from the previous period, according to a new Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
Conducted from September 28 to October 1, the survey estimates that around 13.2 million families consider themselves as poor — higher than the 12.5 million estimated in June 2023.
The survey also found that 27% of families rated themselves as "borderline” or between the "poor" and "not poor" categories, which is a decrease of six points from the previous survey. Meanwhile, 25% of families rated themselves as "hindi mahirap" or "not poor," a three-point increase from June.
The survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide.
SWS based its estimated number of self-rated poor families on the percentage of respondent households rating themselves as poor as applied to the Philippine Statistics Authority medium-population projections for 2023.
7 out of 10 in Mindanao self-rate as ‘poor’
The most significant increase in self-rated poverty was among families in Mindanao, where the percentage of "poor" families surged from 54% in June to 71% in September.
In Metro Manila and the Visayas, the rise was more moderate, from 35% to 38% and 57% to 59%, respectively. In contrast, Balance Luzon experienced a decrease from 39% to 35%.
The "borderline" category increased in Metro Manila and the Visayas, from 23% to 29% and 28% to 32%, respectively. However, it declined in Balance Luzon from 38% to 25% and in Mindanao from 33% to 25%.
The "not poor" category rose in Balance Luzon from 23% to 40%, but it decreased in Metro Manila (42% to 33%), Mindanao (13% to 4%), and the Visayas (15% to 8%).
Meanwhile, those who self-rated themselves as poor based on the type of food eaten by their families remained at 34% overall in September 2023. Around 31% rated themselves not food-poor (up from 26%) while 35% placed themselves on the borderline.
Based on these figures, SWS estimated the number of self-rated food-poor families at 9.2 million in the third quarter of the year.
The SWS survey also revealed the Self-Rated Poverty Threshold, or the minimum monthly budget that Filipino families say they need to be considered not poor, has not changed for several years despite inflation.
As of September, the national median Self-Rated Poverty Threshold remained at P15,000, the same as the last seven quarters.
“This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards, i.e., belt-tightening,” the survey body said.
Meanwhile, the national median Self-Rated Poverty Gap (or the amount that families say they need to get out of poverty) went down from P7,000 to P5,000.
Newly poor at 1.8 million
In addition, the survey found that 6.6% of families considered themselves "newly poor," indicating that they had not been in poverty one to four years ago. According to SWS’ estimates, this represents 1.8 million “newly poor” families out of 13.2 million families who rated themselves as poor.
The survey also asked self-rated non-poor families if they had ever experienced poverty in the past, revealing that 18.1% had been "newly non-poor" (1-4 years ago), 8.9% had been "usually non-poor" (five or more years ago), and 24.9% had "always been non-poor."
In response to a drop in his approval ratings from a survey by private pollster Pulse Asia, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier acknowledged that "people are having a hard time" and struggling with being able to afford food.
The president pledged to slash the country’s poverty rate to single digits by 2028 in his first State of the Nation Address.