MANILA, Philippines — About 11.1 million families or 45 percent of Filipinos said they are poor, according to the second quarter of 2019 Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on Saturday.
SWS said this number increased by 7-percentage points compared with the 38 percent Filipinos or 9.5 million families who considered themselves as “mahirap” or poor in March 2019.
The survey, conducted from June 22 to 26, 2019, showed that 35 percent or 8.5 million families are “food poor.”
The poll body conducted the survey using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults aged 18 years old and above nationwide.
Each 300 respondents were interviewed in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao with sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
SWS used the survey question: “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) were also shown as answers for the question. /jpv