More families went hungry, survey says

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Some 4.9 million families went hungry in the second quarter of the year, up by around one million from the previous quarter, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) Survey.

The survey, conducted on June 28-30 and first reported in BusinessWorld, showed that hunger went up to 22.7 percent, compared to the 19.2 percent or 3.9 million households recorded in March.

The recent figure is the highest since a record 23.8 percent was posted in March 2012.

The latest hunger survey follows the release by the SWS last week of a self-rated June poverty survey wherein 49 percent of respondents, or 10.4 million families, claimed to be poor, a decrease from the 52 percent recorded in the previous quarter.

Around 40 percent, or 8.5 million families, said they were food-poor in the same period, up from 39 percent in the previous quarter.

In the hunger 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 asked: Did it happen only once, a few times, often or always?

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

Those who experienced moderate hunger nationwide rose from 15.6 percent (3.2 million households) in March to 17.3 percent (3.7 million households) in June.

Incidence of severe hunger also rose from 3.6 percent (726,000 households) in the first quarter to 5.4 percent (1.2 million households) in the second quarter.

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.

By geographical area, overall hunger increased nationwide, except in Mindanao, where it fell from 29.2 percent in March to 17 percent in June. Inquirer Research