11-M Filipino families remain poor – survey

Eleven million Filipino families continue to consider themselves “mahirap” or poor based on the third quarter survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

In the nationwide survey conducted last September 3-5 among 1,200 respondents, 50 percent or equivalent to 11 million families claimed they are poor in the past three months.

The latest result is just a

point below the 51 percent or 11.2 million families recorded in the second quarter.

In the survey, the respondents were asked: “Saan po ninyo ilalagay ang inyong pamilya sa kard na ito?” (Where would you place your family in this card?) A showcard with the choices – hindi mahirap (not poor), sa linya (on the line), mahirap (poor) – was shown. The results of the survey were first published in BusinessWorld yesterday.

While lower by around 200,000 families, the survey has a +/-3 percent margin of error for national percentages, meaning the percentage of poor families in the third quarter remained the same as the second quarter result.

The lowest recorded self-rated poverty during the Aquino administration was in June, 2013 with 49 percent.

SWS attributed the one-point decline in poverty rate to the lower percentage of families who claimed they are poor in the rest of Luzon (from 43 percent to 38 percent) and Metro Manila (from 33 percent to 32 percent), but higher percentage in the Visayas (from 58 percent to 66 percent) and stable rate in Mindanao (70 percent).

Likewise, SWS noted a steady food poverty rate with 35 percent or 7.8 million families considering themselves “food-poor,” from 37 percent or 8.1 million families, previously.

The lowest self-rated food poverty during the Aquino administration was recorded at 31 percent in March, 2010.

The question on self-rated food poverty was, “Tungkol naman sa klase ng pagkain ng pamilya ninyo, saan po ninyo ilalagay ang inyong pamilya sa kard na ito?” (Based on the type of food eaten by your family, where would you place your family on this card?). A similar showcard with the choices – “hindi mahirap” (not poor), “sa linya” (on the line), and “mahirap” (poor) – was shown to the respondents.

SWS attributed the two-point decline in self-rated food poverty to the lower percentages in Mindanao (from 58 percent to 54 percent), rest of Luzon (from 29 percent to 27 percent), and in Metro Manila (from 23 percent to 22 percent).

Meanwhile, it remained at 40 percent in the Visayas.

The self-rated poverty thresholds defined by SWS as home expense budget in order not to consider themselves poor fell to 15,000 from 20,000 in Metro Manila, but remained at 10,000 in the rest of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Likewise, the median self-rated food poverty threshold or the monthly food budget that food-poor households need in home expenses in order not to consider themselves food-poor declined to 8,500 from 10,000 in Metro Manila, but remained at 5,000 in the rest of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.