SWS: 46% of Filipino families felt poor in March 2024

MANILA, Philippines — The percentage of families in the country who considered themselves poor has decreased by one percent from December 2023, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said on Wednesday.

According to its latest survey conducted in March 2024, 46 percent of families said they were poor, 33 percent said they were on the borderline, and 23 percent said they were not poor.

The 46 percent translates to around 12.9 million families in the country.

READ: 47 percent of Filipino families felt poor in Q4 2023 – SWS survey

Compared to the SWS survey conducted in December 2023, poor families were at 47 percent, borderline families were at 33 percent, and not poor families were at 20 percent.

The SWS said that the number of families who thought themselves poor was highest in Visayas, followed by Mindanao, Balance Luzon or Luzon outside Metro Manila, and Metro Manila.

Meanwhile, the number of self-rated poor families decreased in Mindanao and Metro Manila but increased in Visayas.

The SWS added that it had a steady score in Balance Luzon between the March 2024 and December 2023 surveys.

The polling firm found that 33 percent of families in the country also considered themselves to be food-poor, based on their food type.

Thirty-six percent said they were borderline food-poor, and 41 percent said they were not.

READ: SWS: Involuntary hunger rate hits 12.6 percent in December 2023

The SWS added that 1,500 adults were interviewed for the survey: 600 in Balance Luzon and 300 in Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.

It also placed sampling error margins at ± 2.5 percent for national percentages, ± 4.0% for Balance Luzon, and ± 5.7 each for Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.