9.4M RP households rate themselves poor

MANILA, Philippines—An estimated 9.4 million households, or 50 percent of total households in the country, consider themselves “poor,” while some 7.2 million households, or 38 percent, consider themselves “food-poor,” according to the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations.

The 2nd Quarter 2010 Social Weather Survey found that the current self-rated poverty level was 7 points above the record-low incidence of 43 percent (estimated 8.1 million households) in March 2010, while the self-rated food poverty level was also 7 points above the record-low 31 percent (estimated 5.9 million households), also recorded last March.

“In June 2010, both poverty and food-poverty thresholds continue to be sluggish despite considerable inflation, indicating falling living standards or belt-tightening,” the SWS said in a statement released Wednesday.

The self-rated poverty threshold is the minimum level of income deemed necessary by a poor household for it not to consider itself poor.

Self-rated poverty and self-rated food poverty rose sharply in Mindanao, which registered record lows in the previous quarter.

Self-rated poverty in Mindanao rose by 17 points, from 39 percent in March to 56 percent in June. Self-rated food poverty in Mindanao rose by 16 points, from 32 percent in March to 48 percent in June.

Self-rated poverty also rose in Metro Manila (by 10 points, from 38 percent to 48 percent) and in the Visayas (by 6 points, from 52 percent to 58 percent), while it “hardly changed” in Luzon outside Metro Manila (from 43 percent to 44 percent).

Self-rated food poverty also rose in other areas—by 7 points in Metro Manila (from 28 percent to 35 percent), by 6 points in the Visayas (from 39 percent to 45 percent) and by 2 points in Balance Luzon (from 29 percent to 31 percent).

As of June, median poverty thresholds were at P10,000 in Metro Manila, P8,000 in the Visayas, P7,500 in Balance Luzon, and P5,000 in Mindanao.

Median food-poverty thresholds, on the other hand, were at P6,000 in Metro Manila, P4,750 in the Visayas, P3,500 in Balance Luzon and P3,000 in Mindanao. Kate Pedroso, Inquirer Research –Philippine Daily Inquirer