51% of Pinoys say they’re poor

As inflation soared to its highest in 14 years, half of Filipino families said they felt “poor” during the fourth quarter of 2022, based on the latest Social Weather Stations survey.

Conducted from 10 to 14 December 2022, the survey found that the percentage of Filipinos who considered themselves poor increased slightly to 51 percent from 49 percent last October.

SWS said the percentage translated to 12.9 million families, or an increase of 300,000 households from the previous figure.

In the survey, 31 percent considered themselves as “borderline”, or those who felt that they were “between poor and not poor.” Only 19 percent, meanwhile, rated themselves as “not poor.” The private pollster said the two-point increase in the self-rated survey was due to the rise in Balance Luzon, combined with decreases in the National Capital Region,

Visayas, and Mindanao.

Compared to October 2022, the number of respondents who rated themselves “poor” rose in Balance Luzon from 36 percent to 49 percent.

It, however, fell in Metro Manila from 44 percent to 32 percent, in the Visayas from 68 percent to 58 percent, and in Mindanao from 64 percent to 59 percent.

Meanwhile, respondents who felt that they were “not poor” increased in Metro Manila from 33 percent to 39 percent and in Mindanao from 8 percent to 11 percent.

It decreased in Balance Luzon from 29 percent to 20 percent and in the Visayas from 11 percent to 9 percent.

The non-commissioned survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide: 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.

The sampling error margins were ±2.5 percent for national percentages and ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

Meanwhile, respondents who felt that they were ‘not poor’ increased in Metro Manila from 33 percent to 39 percent and in Mindanao from 8 percent to 11 percent.