Fewer Pinoys consider themselves poor - SWS

MANILA, Philippines - Fewer Filipinos consider themselves poor and hungry, based on a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The SWS poll, conducted from Aug. 24 to 27, showed that the number of Filipinos who consider themselves mahirap or poor dropped to 47 percent, comprising 9.5 million families, from 51 percent in May or 10.3 million families.

SWS said the last time self-rated poverty fell below 50 percent was in December 2011 – at 45 percent. The record low is 43 percent, achieved in March 1987 and in March 2010.

The same survey also showed fewer families considering themselves “food-poor.”

“Food poverty” also declined four points to 35 percent (equivalent to an estimated 7.2 million families) in August from 39 percent (estimated 7.9 million) three months earlier.

The latest food poverty rate is the lowest since March 2010’s record low of 31 percent, SWS said.

The results of the SWS survey were printed in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday.

Self-rated poverty improved in all areas except in the Visayas.

It dropped from 65 percent to 57 percent in Mindanao and from 41 percent to 35 percent in Metro Manila, 43 percent to 38 percent in the rest of Luzon. However, it increased in the Visayas to 63 percent from 57 percent.

It fell by five points in urban areas to 37 percent and by three points to 58 percent in rural areas.

Meanwhile, self-rated food poverty dropped in Mindanao to 45 percent from 53 percent.

In Metro Manila, it declined to 24 percent from 25 percent. It also dropped from 32 percent to 29 percent in the rest of Luzon.

The figure went up slightly in the Visayas from 46 percent to 47 percent three months earlier.

The SWS, however, said families continue to tighten their belts, with the self-rated poverty threshold, or the monthly budget that poor households need in order not to feel poor, affected by “considerable inflation.”

“This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards, i.e., belt-tightening,” the SWS said.

The median poverty threshold stayed at P15,000 in Metro Manila and P10,000 in the Visayas, and fell to P8,000 in the rest of Luzon and P7,000 in Mindanao.

The median food poverty thresholds rose to P7,500 in Metro Manila but fell to P4,500 in the Visayas, P4,000 in the rest of Luzon and P3,000 in Mindanao.

The SWS poll used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents nationwide.

The survey had margins of error of plus or minus three percentage points for national and plus or minus six percentage points for area percentages.