SWS: Fewer hungry Pinoys in 4th quarter

Annual average hunger further eased last year as fewer Filipino families reported experiencing hunger in the last three months of 2019, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The survey, taken from Dec. 13 to 16, showed that some 2.1 million Filipino families, equivalent to a rate of 8.8 percent, said they experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the last three months, down by 0.3 points from September’s 9.1 percent or an estimated 2.3 million families.

The decrease in hunger in the fourth quarter of 2019 amid the earlier reported higher self-rated poverty rate—up 12 points to 54 percent during the same period—was due to the lower hunger incidence among both the self-rated poor and self-rated nonpoor families, SWS noted.

The fourth quarter hunger rate brought the annual average in 2019 to 9.3 percent, a decrease from 10.8 percent in 2018. Annual average hunger has been steadily falling since 2013 when it recovered from a record-high 19.9 percent in 2011 and 2012.

Annual average poverty, meanwhile, eased from 48 percent in 2018 to 45 percent in 2019.Among the self-rated poor, hunger fell from 14 percent in September to 12.8 percent in December while among nonpoor hunger went down from 5.6 percent to 4.1 percent.

The noncommissioned survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The SWS asked the respondents in Filipino: “In the last three months, did it happen even once that your family experienced hunger and did not have anything to eat?” Those who answered in the affirmative were further asked: “Did it happen ‘only once,’ ‘a few times,’ ‘often’ or ‘always?’”

Experiencing hunger “only once” or “a few times” is classified as “moderate hunger,” while going hungry “often” or “always” is rated as “severe hunger.”The percentage of those who said they experienced “moderate hunger” was 7.3 percent in December from 7.4 percent in September while the proportion of those who claimed they experienced “severe hunger” was 1.5 percent from 1.7 percent in September.

Hunger in Luzon outside Metro Manila declined in the fourth quarter while upticks were recorded in other areas.

In Luzon outside Metro Manila, hunger fell 1.8 points from 8.1 percent to 6.3 percent. —INQUIRER RESEARCH