Poverty scores improve

FEWER FILIPINO families consider themselves poor, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said in a new report, dipping below 50% but still some ways off a record low revisited in March 2010.

Results of a third-quarter SWS poll made exclusive to BusinessWorld found 47% of the respondents — equivalent to an estimated 9.5 million families — saying they were mahirap or poor, four points down from 51% (est. 10.3 million families) in May.

The last time that self-rated poverty fell below 50% was in December last year (45%). The record low is 43%, first hit in March 1987 and again in March 2010.

Fewer families also claimed to be poor in terms of food in the latest SWS survey, which recorded an identical four-point drop to 35% (equivalent to an estimated 7.2 million families) in August from 39% (est. 7.9 million) three months earlier.

The latest food poverty rate is the lowest since March 2010’s record low of 31%.

Malacañang said the improvements were a sign that the Aquino government’s efforts to achieve inclusive growth were being felt. The SWS, for its part, noted that the gains came with further belt-tightening by families.

Self-rated poverty scores improved in Mindanao (57% from 65%), Metro Manila (35% from 41%) and Balance Luzon (38% from 43%), but increased in the Visayas (63% from 57%).

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

Self-rated food poverty, meanwhile, also improved in Mindanao (45% from 53%), Balance Luzon (29% from 32%) and Metro Manila (24% from 25%), and picked up slightly in the Visayas (47% from 46%) from three months earlier.

The SWS said families were continuing to tighten their belts, with the self-rated poverty threshold — the monthly budget that poor households need in order not to consider themselves poor — remaining “sluggish despite considerable inflation.”

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

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

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

The SWS said both the latest self-rated poverty and food poverty thresholds had already been surpassed in the past for all areas.

Sought for comment, Secretary Ramon “Ricky” S. Carandang of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, said: “We have worked for inclusive growth since the start of this administration. This may be a sign that our efforts are being felt but these self-rated poverty figures tend to be volatile at times.

“We must persist in our efforts for us to see a sustained reduction in poverty. Nevertheless, this is a good sign,” the Palace spokesman added.

The third-quarter SWS survey, conducted last Aug. 24-27, involved face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide. They were asked to rate whether their families were poor, on the line or not poor. A similar question was asked with regard to food poverty.

The error margins used were ±3% for national and ±6% for area percentages. –NOEMI M. GONZALES, Reporter, Businessworld