SWS: 16.3 million families consider themselves poor

MANILA, Philippines —  Six in every 10 Filipinos rated their families as poor in the third quarter of 2024, the highest in more than 16 years, a survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The survey conducted from Sept. 14 to 23 found 59 percent of respondents considered their families poor – up one point from the 58 percent obtained in a similar survey in June.

Based on SWS data, it matched the 59 percent obtained in June 2008 during the Arroyo administration.

SWS conducted quarterly surveys on self-rated poverty since 1992, except in the first three quarters of 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the most part of the current administration, self-rated poverty ranged from 45 percent to 51 percent. But it jumped by a significant 12 points in the June survey, from 46 percent to 58 percent.

According to the polling firm, the latest self-rated poverty translated to an estimated 16.3 million poor Filipino families in September 2024, up from 16 million in June and only 12.9 million in March.

Based on the latest survey results, those who rated themselves “not poor” dropped from 30 percent to 28 percent, while those who were “borderline poor” increased by a point from 12 percent to 13 percent.

Across areas, self-rated poverty was still highest among those in Mindanao at 67 percent (from 71 percent), followed by those in the Visayas at 62 percent (from 67 percent), balance Luzon at 55 percent (from 52 percent) and Metro Manila at 52 percent (from 39 percent).

Those who rated their families as “not poor” were highest among those in Metro Manila at 38 percent (from 46 percent), followed by those in the rest of Luzon at 33 percent (from 37 percent), Visayas at 16 percent (from 18 percent) and Mindanao at 23 percent (from 17 percent).

Food poverty at 46%

The latest survey found that self-rated “food poverty” or the rating based on the food they eat stayed the same at 46 percent, which was also the highest since the 49 percent obtained in June 2008.

Self-rated “food poverty” significantly increased from 33 percent in March 2024 to 46 percent in June and September.

Those who rated their families as “not food-poor” in the latest survey decreased from 39 percent to 37 percent, while those who considered their families as “borderline food-poor” increased from 15 percent to 17 percent.

Self-rated food poverty was highest among respondents in Mindanao at 61 percent (similar to June 2024), followed by those in the Visayas at 49 percent (from 50 percent) and Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon at 39 percent (from 31 percent and 42 percent, respectively).

The survey had 1,500 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus 2.5 percent for national percentages.