Amid all the long-running state-funded dole-out programs for the poor, a survey conducted by pollster Social Weather Stations Inc. showed that self-rated poverty rose to 63 percent in December last year. The SWS noted that it was the highest in 21 years, or since the 64 percent recorded in November 2003.
In the survey conducted from Dec. 12 to 18 last year, about 10.2 percent of the respondents, translating into approximately 2.8 million Filipino families, rated themselves “newly poor” – meaning they considered themselves “non-poor” one to four years ago. Meanwhile, the “usually poor,” who described themselves as “non-poor” five or more years ago, stood at 7.6 percent.
Those who rated their families “always poor” or were never “non-poor” accounted for the bulk or 44.7 percent of the respondents. For the entire 2024, the SWS placed self-rated poverty at an average of 57 percent. This was also the highest average since the 60 percent in 2003, and nine points above the 48 percent average recorded in 2022 and 2023.
Meanwhile, the “non-poor” – those who classified themselves as “not poor” and “borderline poor” – went down by two points. As estimated by the SWS, the survey results translated to 17.4 million self-rated poor families, consisting of 2.8 million “newly poor,” 2.1 million “usually poor” and 12.4 million “always poor.”
That’s a lot of Filipino families needing so much more than short-term dole-outs occasionally handed over by politicians in aid of election. Even without surveys, anyone traveling around the country can easily see the extent of impoverishment. Children and adults alike are physically stunted from inadequate nourishment, living in shelters too flimsy to withstand the natural calamities that regularly devastate the country.
Perpetual dependence on state aid for survival is promoted by political predators who pay lip service to supporting programs that can genuinely lift people from poverty: quality education, affordable and accessible health care and, for the adults, sustainable employment and livelihood opportunities.
The SWS conducts surveys on self-rated poverty regularly, and the latest one cannot be considered a wake-up call for policy makers. They should have awakened a long time ago to the problems that are worsening poverty in the country, and responded accordingly. Ayuda in any form is just a band-aid solution that must be complemented by long-term measures that will lift people out of poverty for good.