Poverty up at end of 2013 – SWS

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines— More Filipino families considered themselves poor at the end of 2013, according to the latest Social Weather Station (SWS) survey released Monday.

The survey, which was conducted from December 11 to 16, showed that 11.8 million or 55 percent of Filipino families said they considered themselves poor while 8.8 million or 41 percent considered themselves food-poor.

A total of 1,550 adults in Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao were interviewed face to face by SWS to rate themselves whether their families were poor, not poor, or borderline poor.

SWS also asked the respondents on how much money would their respective families need for home expenses each month in order not to be called poor.

The SWS said the rise in both self-rated poverty and food poverty was “roughly due to increases in all areas except Mindanao.”

“Both self-rated poverty and self-rated food poverty rose from the previous quarter, and are above their four-quarter averages for 2013,” SWS said.

Self-rated poverty in 2012 was at 52 percent, a three percentage points lower than in 2013 while the self-rated food poverty was two points higher this year.

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