More Filipinos hungry in first quarter of 2024 – SWS
MANILA, Philippines — Filipino families experiencing involuntary hunger climbed in March 2024 compared to late last year, a new poll released Tuesday found.
According to a survey conducted March 21 to 25 by private pollster Social Weather Station, 14.2% of Filipino families were hungry or had nothing to eat at least once in the past three months, surpassing last quarter's hunger incidence of 12.6%.
The latest reading is the highest hunger incidence since May 2021, when SWS recorded 16.8%.
The survey results are based on face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults nationwide, with sampling error margins at 2.5%.
The rise in hunger levels came from the increase in hunger incidence from Metro Manila, Visayas and Balance Luzon, while Mindanao experienced a decline.
At least 19% of families in Metro Manila reported experiencing involuntary hunger — the highest in the country — followed by Balance Luzon (Luzon outside Metro Manila) at 15.3%, Visayas at 15% and Mindanao at 8.7%.
Compared to the previous quarter, hunger levels dropped in Mindanao from 12% to 8.7%.
SWS also noted that a higher proportion of families that typically consider themselves not poor experienced involuntary hunger in the first quarter of the year, going up from 5.9% in December 2023 to 9.8% in March 2024.
Meanwhile, hunger incidence among families that consider themselves poor dipped from 25.5% to 21.3%. — Cristina Chi
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