The number of Filipino families who considered themselves “poor” went down by 2 percent in the last quarter of 2018, according to the Social Weather Stations survey.
In its latest non-commissioned survey released this January, the SWS said that 50 percent of the families (estimated as 11.6 million) described themselves as poor, which is two points below the 52 percent (estimated at 12.2 million) results in its September survey.
The survey conducted between Dec. 16 and 19 classified themselves as poor, 7 percent were “newly poor” while 6 percent were “usually poor.”
The remaining 37 percent said they were “always poor.”
The SWS, a social research institution in the Philippines founded in August 1985, is a private, non-stock, non-profit institution and describes itself as the foremost public-opinion polling body in the Philippines.
The downtrend in self-rated poverty in December was recorded following a 10-point spike registered in two straight quarters.
Families who said they were poor rose to 48 percent in April-June period from 42 percent in the first three months.
In the third quarter, it jumped by four points to 52 percent.
The SWS survey questions about the family’s self-rated poverty and self-rated food-poverty were directed to the household head.
Self-rated poverty fell by 16 points in Mindanao, from 65 percent in September 2018 to 49 percent in December 2018. On the average, Mindanao has self-rated poverty of 54 percent for 2018.
In the Visayas, self-rated poverty decreased by 6 points, from 67 percent in September to 61 percent in December. Visayas has average self-rated poverty of 62 percent for 2018.
However, self-rated poverty increased by 4 points in Balance Luzon, from 47 percent in September to 51 percent in December. For 2018, the Balance of Luzon has average self-rated poverty of 43 percent.
In Metro Manila, there was also a four-point increase in self-rated poverty, from 26 percent in September to 30 percent in December.
The average self-rated poverty for Metro Manila for 2018 is 32 percent.
The December 2018 survey found that the median self-rated poverty gap—the amount poor families lack in monthly home expenses relative to their stated threshold—was unchanged at P5,000 or half of the self-rated poverty threshold.
READ: Fewer Filipinos believe they are poor, SWS survey shows