Self-rated poverty up anew

From March’s record low, more Filipino families say they are mahirap

THE NUMBER of Filipino families who feel poor has increased by over a million from last March’s record low, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said.

In a June 25-28 poll, the results of which were made exclusive to BusinessWorld, 50% of the respondents — equivalent to some 9.4 million families — described themselves as mahirap or “poor.”

This was seven points up from the 43% or an estimated 8.1 million who claimed to have been poor in the previous quarter.

Food poverty, a measure of families who rate themselves as poor in terms of food, also grew to 38% (7.2 million households) last June from March’s record low of 31% (5.9 million).

Both poverty and food poverty thresholds — the monthly budgets poor households say they need in order they will not consider themselves poor/food-poor — did not move much despite inflation, an indication of continued belt-tightening.

An economist said the result was expected given the end to the largesse dispensed by politicians ahead of the May national elections.

The Aquino administration, which took office at the end of June, said it was working to address the situation — described as inherited from its predecessor — given President Benigno C. Aquino III’s campaign pledge to combat poverty.

Up the most in Mindanao

Self-rated poverty and self-rated food poverty figures increased most in Mindanao, to 56% from a record low of 39% and to 48% from 32%, respectively.

In Metro Manila, self-rated poverty jumped to 48% from 38% while in the Visayas it rose to 58% from 52%. It barely changed in the rest of Luzon where it was at 44% from 43% last March.

Self-rated poverty rose by 13 points in rural areas to 58% from March’s record low of 45%.

It was also up, by three points to 44%, in urban areas.

Self-rated food poverty increased in Metro Manila to 35% from 28%, in Visayas to 45% from 39% and in the rest of Luzon to 31% from 29%.

Poverty thresholds sluggish

The SWS said median poverty thresholds for poor households declined to P10,000 in Metro Manila, P7,500 in the rest of Luzon and to P5,000 in Mindanao but rose slightly to P8,000 in the Visayas.

Median food poverty thresholds fell to P3,500 in the Balance of Luzon but remained at P3,000 in Mindanao and P6,000 in Metro Manila. It rose to P4,750 in the Visayas.

All thresholds had already been hit in the past, the SWS said.

In Metro Manila, for example, the SWS said the P10,000 median poverty threshold was the same as 10 years ago despite an over 60% increase in the consumer price index (CPI). It said the June 2010 figure was equivalent to only P6,127 in terms of 2000 purchasing power, “a throwback to living standards of over ten years ago.”

The P10,000 threshold, the SWS added, is equivalent to P16,320 per month at the June 2010 cost of living given the CPI of 163.2. Subtracting one from the other yields P6,320 — the extent of belt-tightening that took place.

The metropolis’ median food poverty threshold, meanwhile, was at P6,000 in December 2002 and is equivalent to P9,318 at the June 2010 cost of food (CPI of 155.3). The difference of P3,318 is how much poor families have lowered their living standards, the SWS said.

‘Internally consistent’ ratings

The SWS said the ratings for poverty, food poverty and hunger were “internally consistent.”

Among the self-rated food poor, 34.5% claimed they experienced hunger. This was at 14.2% among the not food poor and 12% in the food borderline categories. Hunger incidence was at 27.6% among poor households, 20.3% among the not poor and 11.3% among families on the borderline.

Severe hunger — not having anything to eat often or always in the last three months — was at 8.8% among the food poor, 1.5% of the not food poor and 1.2% of those on the food borderline. It was at 5.9% among poor households, 3.9% among the not poor and 1.6% among those on the borderline.

“As a concept, poverty allows for various degrees of deprivation. Families that suffer from hunger are much more deprived than those who simply suffer from poverty or food poverty,” the SWS said.

Sought for comment, University of Asia and the Pacific economist said the food-poverty rating result showed the indicator’s short-term nature.

“[T]here are seasonal factors such as election spending,” he said.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon J. Soliman said a three-pronged approach — “conditional cash transfers (CCT), community-driven development and sustainable livelihood” — was being utilized to address the poverty issue.

For his part, Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad said: “We are investing heavily on social services such as basic education… preventive health care, health insurance, conditional cash transfer and safety nets for calamity victims.”

The proposed 2011 budget allocates P207.3 billion for the Department of Education and expands the CCT coverage to 2.3 million households from one million this year.

“This is the situation we inherited from the past administration. By waging a vigorous anti-corruption campaign and instituting good governance, we hope to make significant gains in poverty reduction,” Presidential Communications Operations secretary Herminio R. Coloma said.

For the June survey, the SWS conducted face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide. It used sampling error margins of ±3% for national and ±6% for area percentages. — Ana Mae G. Roa, Businessworld