Self-rated poverty slightly eases to 49% – SWS

MANILA, Philippines — Fewer Filipinos considered themselves poor in the second quarter of the year, a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The study, conducted from June 20 to 29, showed that 49 percent of respondents rated their families as poor, slightly lower than the 52 percent obtained in a similar poll in March.

SWS said the estimated number of self-rated poor families went down from 14.5 million in March to 13.6 million in June.

Meanwhile, some 37 percent considered their families as “not poor,” up from 35 percent in March.

The remaining 14 percent said they were neither poor nor not poor, described by the polling firm as those in the borderline. It was almost similar to the 13 percent obtained in the previous survey.

Across areas, self-rated poverty was highest among those in Mindanao at 61 percent (from 63 percent), followed by those in the Visayas at 59 percent (from 66 percent), balance Luzon at 41 percent (from 44 percent) and Metro Manila at 40 percent (from 42 percent).

The latest survey also found that 36 percent identified their families as “food poor” or poor based on the food they eat, down from 42 percent in March.

Those who rated their families as “not food poor” increased from 46 percent to 49 percent, while those who considered their families as “borderline food poor” increased from 12 percent to 15 percent.

Self-rated food poverty was highest among respondents in the Visayas and Mindanao, both at 45 percent (from 54 percent and 50 percent, respectively), followed by those in balance Luzon at 31 percent (from 35 percent) and Metro Manila at 27 percent (from 34 percent).

The SWS survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus three percent.