Fewer families consider themselves ‘poor’—SWS

PHOTO BY DON LEJANO/INQUIRER.net

Fewer families considered themselves “poor” and “food-poor,” according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The Third Quarter Social Weather Report, which was conducted from Aug. 24 to 27 and was first reported in the BusinessWorld newspaper, recorded 47 percent of the respondents—or an estimated 9.5 million families—saying they were “poor,” down from the 51 percent (estimated 10.3 million families) posted in May.

The same survey also found fewer families at 35 percent (7.2 million families) rating themselves “food-poor,” down from 39 percent (7.9 million families) in May.

The survey, conducted from Aug. 24 to Aug. 27, used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents. It had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.

The survey asked respondents the question, “Where would you place your family on this card?” The card provided the choices “not poor,” “on the line” and “poor.”

For self-rated food poverty, SWS asked respondents the question, “Based on the type of food eaten by your family, where would you place your family on this card?” Respondents were likewise made to choose from “not poor,” “on the line” and “poor.”

Self-rated poverty declined across areas, except in the Visayas, where it increased from 57 percent in May to 63 percent in August. It went from 41 percent to 35 percent in Metro Manila, from 43 percent to 38 percent in Luzon outside Metro Manila and from 65 percent to 57 percent in Mindanao.

It also declined in urban areas, from 42 percent to 37 percent, and in rural areas, from 61 percent to 58 percent.

In terms of self-rated food-poverty, it remained virtually the same in Metro Manila (25 percent in May to 24 percent in August) and in the Visayas (46 percent in May to 47 percent in August). It went down from 32 percent to 29 percent in Luzon outside Metro Manila, and from 53 percent to 45 percent in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, the self-rated poverty threshold, or the amount of money needed by respondents monthly so as not to consider themselves poor, remained the same at P15,000 in Metro Manila and at P10,000 in the Visayas.

It fell from P10,000 in May to P7,000 in August in Mindanao, and from P9,000 to P8,000 in Luzon outside Metro Manila.  Inquirer Research