Fewer Filipinos went hungry in last 3 months, survey says

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Fewer Filipino families said they experienced hunger in the second quarter of the year, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

Results of the survey, conducted May 24-27 and first published in BusinessWorld, showed that 18.4 percent, or an estimated 3.8 million households, went hungry in the last quarter compared to the record-high 23.8 percent, or 4.8 million households, recorded in the previous quarter.

In the survey, SWS asked 1,200 respondents nationwide: 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 “yes” were further asked: Did it happen only once, a few times, often or always?

Classifying hunger

SWS classified “moderate hunger” as experiencing hunger “only once” or “a few times,” while going hungry “often” or “always” was categorized as experiencing “severe hunger.”

The numbers that experienced moderate hunger nationwide declined from 18 percent in March (3.7 million) to 13.7 percent (2.8 million) in May.

Severe hunger remained almost unchanged nationwide from 5.8 percent (1.2 million) in March to 4.8 percent (974,000 households).

SWS used face-to-face interviews for the survey, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points for national percentages and plus or minus 6 percentage points for area percentages.

By location, overall hunger decreased in Metro Manila and the balance of Luzon, but rose in the Visayas. In Mindanao, it was statistically the same, given the margin of error.

In Metro Manila, overall hunger fell from 24.3 percent in March to 16 percent in May, the lowest since June 2011 when overall hunger was at 13 percent.

Overall hunger

Moderate hunger in Metro Manila declined from 16.3 percent to 12.7 percent, while severe hunger dipped from 8 percent to 3.3 percent.

Overall hunger in the balance of Luzon also decreased significantly from 28 percent in March to 14.3 percent in May.

Those who experienced moderate hunger in the balance of Luzon fell from 22 percent to 8.7 percent, while severe hunger was unchanged from 6 percent in March to 5.7 percent in May.

On the other hand, those who experienced hunger in the Visayas rose from 10.3 percent in March to 17.3 percent in May. Moderate hunger rose in the region from 7.7 percent to 15 percent.

Those who went hungry in Mindanao increased from 26.7 percent to 28.3 percent. Moderate hunger in the region was almost unchanged from 20 percent to 22.3 percent, while severe hunger was also unchanged from 6.7 percent to 6 percent.

Hunger also declined among the self-rated poor and food-poor. Among households that considered themselves poor, those who said they went hungry went down from 32.4 percent in March to 26 percent in May. Hunger among families that considered themselves food-poor decreased from 37.3 percent to 31.8 percent.

Moderate hunger declined among the self-rated poor (from 23.2 percent to 19 percent) and the self-rated food-poor (from 26.8 percent to 22.1 percent).

Severe hunger among the self-rated poor went down from 9.2 percent to 7 percent but was almost unchanged among the self-rated food-poor (from 10.5 percent to 9.7 percent). Inquirer Research