The number of Filipino families who considered themselves as poor went up 45 percent or 11.1 million families, according to the second quarter Social Weather Survey.
The Social Weather Stations, who fielded the survey among 1,200 adults nationwide last June 22 to 26, 2019, said the number of self-rated poor families had gone up by 7 percentage points from the record low 38 percent or an estimated 9.5 million in March.
The rise in the proportion of Self-Rated Poor families came after a 14-point decrease over the previous three quarters from 52 percent in September 2018, to 50 percent in December, and then to 38 percent last March.
The latest survey also showed at least 35 percent or an estimated 8.5 million families rated their food as “mahirap” or poor, termed by the SWS as “Food Poor.”
It was eight points above the record-low 27 percent or an estimated 6.8 million families in the March 2019 survey.
For the June 2019 Social Weather Survey, SWS said it used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide, with 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
Similar to the SRP percentage, the rise in the proportion of Self-Rated Food Poor families came after a nine-point decline over the previous three quarters.
It went down from 36 percent in September 2018, to 34 percent in December, and then to 27 percent in March 2019.
SRP and SFRP significantly increased in Mindanao from the record-low 37 percent in March to 56 percent in June, and from record-low 27 percent in March to 47 percent in June, respectively.
SRP also rose in Balance Luzon (from 35 percent in March to 40 percent in June), and in Metro Manila (from 28 percent in March to 31 percent in June), while it stayed at 55 percent in the Visayas.
The same survey also found that among the estimated 24.6 million total households surveyed in June 2019, 12.1 percent or at least three million families used to be poor 1-4 years ago, termed by SWS as “newly noon-poor,” while 13.8 percent or 3.4 million families used to be poor five or more years ago or those “usually non-poor.”
Meanwhile, 28.7 percent (estimated 7.1 million) have never considered themselves as poor, classified as “always non-poor.”
Survey questions about the family’s self-rated poverty and self-rated food-poverty were directed to the household head.
For self-rated poverty, they were shown showcards with the choices “not poor,” “on the line” and “poor,” and were asked: “Where would you place your family in this card?”
For self-rated food poverty, the question was: “Based on the type of food eaten by your family, where would you place your family on this card?”
The SWS explained that the 7-point increase in the number of SRFP families was due to the increases of 19 points in Mindanao, five points in Balance of Luzon, and three points in Metro Manila, combined with a steady proportion in the Visayas.
SWS noted that it rose especially in Mindanao, where it went from a record-low 37 percent in March to 56 percent in June, whereas it stayed at 55 percent in the Visayas.
The 8-point increase in the proportion of SRFP families, on the other hand, was due to increases of 20 points in Mindanao, six points in Balance Luzon, and three points in Metro Manila, combined with a 3-point decline in the Visayas.
The SRFP in Mindanao, the SWS said, rose by 20 points from a record-low of 27 percent in March to 47 percent in June.
