SWS: Self-rated poverty up

MANILA, Philippines – The Social Weather Stations (SWS) yesterday said that one out of two Filipino families considered themselves mahirap or poor in the past three months.

The Second Quarter 2009 Social Weather Survey, taken from June 19 to 22, found that 50 percent or about 9.3 million families considered themselves “mahirap” or poor, 27 percent rated themselves on the “borderline” and 22 percent saw themselves as “hindi mahirap” or not poor.

SWS said the new self-rated poverty rate is three points higher than the 47 percent (estimated 8.7 million) in February 2009, but slightly lower than 52 percent (estimated 9.4 million) in December 2008.

The non-commissioned survey also found that 39 percent of Filipino families (estimated 7.2 million) consider themselves as “Food-Poor,” 33 percent put themselves on the “Food-Borderline,” and 28 percent consider themselves as “Not Food-Poor.”

“Self-Rated Food Poverty has been volatile at 49 percent in June 2008, 38 percent in September 2008, 42 percent in December 2008, 36 percent in February 2009, and 39 percent in June 2009,” it said.

SWS said self-rated poverty rose by 17 points in Mindanao, from 45 percent in February to 62 percent in June.

It rose slightly by two points in balance Luzon, from 42 percent to 44 percent.

It declined by seven points in Metro Manila, from 49 percent to 42 percent and by four points in the Visayas, from 60 percent to 56 percent.

SWS said self-rated poverty in urban areas rose slightly from 43 percent to 44 percent, while it rose by five points in rural areas, from 53 percent to 58 percent.

The one-quarter rise in self-rated food poverty is also sharpest in Mindanao. It rose by 11 points, from 36 percent in February to 47 percent in June, it said.

It rose slightly by four points in balance Luzon, from 31 percent to 35 percent.

It declined by seven points in Metro Manila, from 39 percent to 32 percent, and by three points in the Visayas, from 45 percent to 42 percent.

The survey firm said the self-rated poverty threshold – the monthly budget that poor households need in order not to consider themselves poor in general – remained sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation.

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

As of June 2009, the median poverty threshold for poor households in Metro Manila stayed at P10,000, even though it had already reached as high as P15,000 several times in the past.

For those in Mindanao, the median poverty threshold stayed at P5,000, though it had already been at P10,000 before.

The median poverty thresholds of poor households rose slightly to P8,000 in the Visayas, while it fell to P6,000 in balance Luzon.

In both areas, however, median poverty thresholds had also already reached P10,000 in the past.

The median food-poverty thresholds for poor households rose slightly to P5,000 in Metro Manila, while it stayed at P3,000 in balance Luzon and Mindanao, and at P4,000 in the Visayas.

SWS said these levels had already been reached several years ago.

In Metro Manila in particular, the median poverty threshold is still P10,000 as in 2000, even though the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has risen there by about 57 percent since, the SWS said.

The NCR median poverty threshold of P10,000 per month for June 2009 is equivalent to only P6,378 in base year 2000 purchasing power, after deflation by the CPI. The deflated poverty threshold for NCR of below P7,000 per month is a throwback to living standards of over 20 years ago.

In four SWS surveys in 2000, the base year of the CPI, the median SWS poverty threshold for NCR was already P10,000 per month, equivalent to P15,680 per month at the June 2009 cost of living, given the CPI of 156.8.

“The difference of P15,680 – P 10,000 = P5,680 between the thresholds of 2000 and June 2009 measures the extent of belt-tightening that took place,” the SWS explained.

On the other hand, median food poverty threshold of P5,000 in Metro Manila is equivalent to only P3,292 in base year 2000 purchasing power for food.

The median food poverty threshold in December 2000 was P6,000 for Metro Manila. It is equivalent to P9,114 per month at the June 2009 cost of food, given the latest CPI of 151.9 for food items.

“The difference of P9,114 – P5,000 = P4,114 between the food thresholds of 2000 and June 2009 is the extent of belt-tightening made by food-poor Metro Manila households,” it said.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults divided into random samples of 300 each in Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao, and 600 in the balance of Luzon.

Sampling error margins of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points for national percentages, plus or minus six percentage points for Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao, and plus or minus four percentage points for balance Luzon were applied in the survey. –Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)