Self-rated poverty rate drops to record low 38% – SWS survey

MANILA, Philippines – The number of Filipinos who consider themselves poor hit a new record low of 38 percent, or some 9.5 million families in the first quarter of 2019, a Social Weather Station (SWS) survey released Tuesday night showed.

The latest figure is12 points below the 50 percent recorded in December 2018, and 4 points below the previous record low of 42 percent in September 2016 and March 2018.

“The new record-low Self-Rated Poverty score is a continuing recovery from the 10-point rise within the first three quarters of 2018,” the survey noted.

Of the 38 percent self-rated poor families, 26 percent said they were “always poor,” 6 percent claimed they used to be non-poor one to four years ago (“newly poor”), and 6 percent used to be non-poor five or more years ago (“usually poor”).

The remaining 26%, or about three out of four poor families, have never experienced being non-poor (“always poor”).

Meanwhile, of the 62 percent who rated themselves as non-poor, a record-high 15 percent said they pulled themselves out of poverty.

The survey also showed a record-low 27 percent, or about 6.8 million families, who consider themselves as “food-poor.”

This is a 7-point decrease from the 34 percent or about 7.9 million in December 2018, and two points below the previous record-low of 29 percent.

The survey added that the median Self-Rated Poverty Threshold or the monthly income households need is at least P10,000 so as not to be considered poor.

The survey was conducted from March 28 to 31, 2019 using face-to-face interviews of 1,440 adults nationwide with sampling error margins of ±2.6 percent for national percentages, and ±5 percent each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao. (Editor: Gilbert S. Gaviola)