Self-rated poverty, hunger rise in Q4

MANILA, Philippines — Self-rated poverty and hunger spiked in the last quarter of 2024, according to a survey conducted by the OCTA Research group.

The survey, conducted from Nov. 10 to 16, found that 50 percent of the respondents consider their families “poor.” This translates to 13.2 million poor families, OCTA said.

Only six percent said they were “not poor,” with the remaining 44 percent saying they “cannot say if their families are poor or not.”

Compared to a similar survey conducted by OCTA in August, self-rated poverty increased by seven points from 43 percent or around 11.3 million families.

Across areas, self-rated poverty was highest among those in Mindanao at 69 percent (from 60 percent), followed by those in the Visayas at 59 percent (similar to August), balance Luzon at 43 percent (from 30 percent) and Metro Manila at 30 percent (from 35 percent).

Based on OCTA’s quarterly survey, self-rated poverty last reached 50 percent in July 2023.

Meanwhile, self-rated hunger increased from 11 percent in July to 16 percent in November.

OCTA said this translates to an increase from 2.9 million to 4.2 million families who experienced involuntary hunger, defined as “not having anything to eat at least once in the past three months before the survey period.”

Involuntary hunger was highest among respondents in balance Luzon at 23 percent (from seven percent), followed by those in Metro Manila at 11 percent (similar to August), the Visayas at 11 percent (from 20 percent) and Mindanao at 10 percent (from 11 percent).

The survey also found that 49 percent or 12.9 million Filipino families consider themselves as “food poor” or struggling to “obtain a sufficient and healthy diet.” It went up from 42 percent or 11.1 million families in August.

OCTA’s fourth quarter survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus three percent.