52% of Pinoy families see selves as poor, 39% don’t have enough to eat – survey

MANILA, Philippines — An estimated 52 percent of Filipino families, or 10.6 million, consider themselves poor, the results of a new Social Weather Stations survey showed.

The March survey’s results, first published in BusinessWorld, are slightly lower than the December 2012 self-poverty survey that showed 10.9 million families, or 54 percent, saying they were poor.

Around 39 percent, or 7.9 million families, also consider themselves food poor, lower than December’s 44 percent or 8.9 million households.

The release of the survey follow results came after census figures released Tuesday showed that the Philippines has failed to make headway in cutting rampant poverty, with more than one in four citizens considered poor despite rosy economic growth figures.

The National Statistical Coordination Board’s July 2012 poverty rate of 27.9 percent is practically unchanged from 2006 and 2009.

The SWS said Mindanao showed significant gains with self-rated poverty down 19 points to 53 percent and while food poverty falling 20 points.

However, self-rated poverty and food poverty scores remained the same in Metro Manila and rose in Luzon.

The SWS said the median poverty threshold — or the minimum monthly budget that would allow families not to consider themselves poor – rose to P15,000 in Metro Manila, P10,000 in the Visayas and P8,000 in the rest of Luzon and in Mindanao.

Food poverty thresholds — the monthly food budget that households need in order not to consider themselves food-poor – were at P8,000 in Metro Manila, P5,000 in the Visayas and P4,000 in the rest of Luzon and in Mindanao.

The SWS survey was conducted among 1,200 adult respondents nationwide from March 19 to 22.

It has error margins of +/-3 percent for national and +/-6 percent for area percentages. –Abigail Kwok, InterAksyon.com