Self-rated poverty down - SWS

Manila, Philippines -  Fewer Filipino families consider themselves “mahirap” (poor) and “food-poor” in the past three months, according to the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The SWS poll, taken from May 24 to 27, showed that 51 percent of the respondents or about 10.3 million households rated themselves poor, down by four points from 55 percent or around 11.1 million families in March.

Meanwhile, the same survey found that 39 of Filipinos (about 7.9 million families) said they are food-poor, lower by six points from 45 percent (9.1 million) previously.

SWS said self-rated poverty and food poverty slightly improved in all areas but it also noted that families had continued to tighten their belts.

Results of the SWS poll were published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday.

In Mindanao, self-rated poverty was down by seven points to 65 percent. It also dropped by five points to 41 percent in Metro Manila, by four points to 57 percent in the Visayas and by two points to 43 percent in balance Luzon.

The survey research institution also recorded a five-point drop in self-rated poverty to 61 percent in rural areas, while urban areas experienced a two-point drop to 42 percent.

SWS said self-rated food poverty declined by 11 points to 53 percent in Mindanao.

Smaller improvements were recorded in balance Luzon and Metro Manila, six points to 32 percent and five points to 25 percent, respectively. The score was barely changed at 46 percent from 47 percent in the Visayas.

SWS said self-rated poverty thresholds – the monthly budgets poor households need for home expenses in order not to consider themselves poor in general – remained sluggish despite higher inflation.

Compared to the previous quarter, the median poverty threshold for poor households rose to P15,000 in Metro Manila and P10,000 in the Visayas and Mindanao but declined to P9,000 in balance Luzon.

Median food-poverty thresholds, meanwhile, increased to P7,000 in Metro Manila and P5,000 in Mindanao and the Visayas, but dropped to P4,500 in balance Luzon.

The self-rated poverty and self-rated food poverty thresholds as of May 2012 have already been surpassed in the past for all areas, the SWS said.

The SWS survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide and has sampling error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national and plus or minus six percentage points for area percentages.