Fewer Pinoys rate themselves poor – SWS survey

Manila, Philippines – The latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released yesterday showed that the number of Filipino families who consider themselves “poor” and “food-poor” or those who have experienced hunger have slightly declined in the past three months.

The SWS poll, conducted from June 3 to 6, found nearly half or 49 percent (an estimated 9.8 million of families) who claim they are poor, down from 51 percent or 10.4 million in March.

Meanwhile, Filipino households that think they have experienced hunger dropped by four points from 40 percent (8.1 million) in March to 36 percent or 7.2 million families in June.

SWS said the significant gains were noted in the balance Luzon area, but these were offset by worse numbers for Metro Manila and Mindanao.

Results of the SWS poll, which were published in the newspaper BusinessWorld yesterday, also found that poor families have tightened their belts further.

SWS said “self-rated poverty dropped to a near record low of 38 percent in balance Luzon,” down by 16 points from 54 percent previously. It was the lowest notched for the area since March 1987’s 22 percent, it said.

However, self-rated poverty rose in Mindanao from 49 percent to 62 percent and in Metro Manila from 34 percent to 43 percent, it said.

It remained unchanged in the Visayas at 61 percent.

Self-rated poverty decreased by two points to 43 percent in urban areas and by six points to 53 percent in the rural areas, the SWS said.

It fell to a record 28 percent in balance Luzon from 42 percent in March, exceeding the previous low of 29 percent recorded in March 2010.

SWS said Filipinos who think they are hungry have worsened in Mindanao by seven points to 45 percent, and in Metro Manila by four points to 28 percent.

Fewer families, however, declared themselves hungry in the Visayas, where it improved to 48 percent from 51 percent three months earlier.

The SWS said self-rated poverty/food poverty thresholds – the monthly budgets that poor households say they need in order not to consider themselves poor/hungry – have remained sluggish despite considerable inflation.

SWS said this indicated that families are continuing to lower their living standards.

Compared to the March survey, the median poverty threshold for poor households fell by P4,000 in Metro Manila (P11,000), by P1,300 in balance Luzon (P7,700) and by P1,000 in Mindanao (P6,000). But it stayed at P8,000 in the Visayas.

The median hunger threshold for poor households, meanwhile, fell by P2,000 in Metro Manila (P6,000) and balance Luzon (P3,000) and by less than a thousand pesos in Mindanao (P3,000). However, it stayed at P4,000 in the Visayas.

SWS noted that the poverty/food-poverty findings are consistent with those on hunger.

The SWS found hunger at 23.8 percent among self-rated poor, more than three times the 7.1 percent among the “not poor” and 6.7 percent among those on the borderline.

Among the self-rated food-poor, hunger was at 27 percent, around four times the 7.1 percent among the “not food-poor” and almost three times the 9.9 percent among those on the food borderline.

Severe hunger – referring to those who experience having nothing to eat “often” or “always” in the last three months – was at 2.9 percent among poor households, 1.9 percent among the not poor and 0.5 percent among families on the borderline.

It was at 3.2 percent among the self-rated food-poor, 1.8 percent among the not food-poor and 0.8 percent among those on the food borderline.

Moderate hunger – those who experienced hunger “only once” or “a few times” in the last three months – was at 20.9 percent among poor households, 5.2 percent among the not poor and 6.2 percent among those on the borderline.

It was at 23.7 percent among the self-rated food-poor, 5.2 percent among the not food-poor, and 9.1 percent among families on the food borderline.

The SWS poll was based on face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide and has error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national and six points for area percentages. –Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)