AS prices for basic commodities and oil rise, four in 10 Filipino families considered themselves poor in the first quarter of 2018, a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations showed.
According to the First Quarter 2018 SWS survey, 42 percent of the respondents considered themselves “mahirap” or poor. This compares favorably with 44 percent in the previous quarter, and 50 percent in the first quarter of 2017.
This was similar to the record-low 42 percent recorded in the third quarter of 2016.
The First Quarter 2018 SWS conducted from March 23-27, 2018, also found 29 percent of families rating themeselves Food-Poor. This was 3 points below the 32 percent (est. 7.3 million) in December 2017, and is a new record-low since the 30 percent in September 2016 .
This was the first time for Self-Rated Food Poverty fell below 30 percent.
The proportion of Self-Rated Food Poor families was 35 percent in March 2017 and 32 percent for the last three consecutive quarters of 2017. It has been Fewer at 35 percent or below since September 2015.
In terms of the monthly amount needed by households for food, or the self-rated food poverty threshold, the national median was unchanged at P6,000.
The national median for the self-rated food poverty gap—the amount families lack in monthly food expenses—was also unchanged at P3,000.
The survey was conducted from March 23 to 27 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide—300 each in Metro Manila, balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The monthly budget that a poor household needs for home expenses in order not to consider itself poor in general—is P13,000.
Rep. Robert Ace Barbers of Surigao del Norte on Thursday welcomed the result of a Social Weather Stations survey indicating that fewer families considered themselves poor in the first quarter of the year.
But Barbers said the survey result may change and should not be used as gauge of one’s socio-economic condition in general.
“That is okay. Economic factors, such as inflation, exchange rate, are contributory to one’s way of living. That is why, probably, they consider themselves poor,” Barbers, chairman of the House committee on dangerous drugs, said.
“But these indicators are fluctuating daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly so it should not be measured as if it is the final status of our people. The best would be considered statistics and figures at the end of the year,” Barbers said.