Self-rated poverty up in Visayas, Mindanao–SWS
More than one in every two Filipino families (55 percent) consider themselves “poor,” while two in every five households (41 percent) consider themselves “food-poor,” according to results of the latest Social Weather Stations survey released on the day of President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines–More than one in every two Filipino families (55 percent) consider themselves “poor,” while two in every five households (41 percent) consider themselves “food-poor,” according to results of the latest Social Weather Stations survey released on the day of President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address.
The survey, conducted from June 27 to June 30 and first reported in BusinessWorld, showed that about 12.1 million families rated themselves “poor”—over half a million more than the 11.5 million (53 percent) recorded in March.
Across areas, self-rated poverty increased by 15 points in Mindanao (from 56 percent in March to 71 percent in June) and by 10 points in the Visayas (from 64 percent to 74 percent).
Self-rated poverty decreased by 6 points in Luzon outside Metro Manila (from 51 percent to 45 percent) and was unchanged in Metro Manila at 37 percent.
Self-rated food poverty also rose by 15 points in Mindanao (from 40 percent to 55 percent) and by 8 points in the Visayas (from 46 percent to 54 percent).
It decreased by 7 points in Luzon outside Metro Manila (from 39 percent to 32 percent), and was at 27 percent in the metropolis (from 25 percent in March).
The median self-rated poverty threshold remained at P10,000 in Luzon outside Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.
In Metro Manila, the threshold decreased from P15,000 in March to P12,000 in June.
The self-rated poverty threshold is defined as the monthly budget that households need in order not to consider themselves poor.
The median self-rated food poverty threshold decreased from P7,000 to P6,000 in Metro Manila and from P5,000 to P4,500 in Mindanao. It remained at P5,000 in Luzon outside Metro Manila and in the Visayas.
The survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 respondents and had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points.–Inquirer Research
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