More Filipinos rated themselves as poor in the second quarter of 2023, the Tugon ng Masa (TNM) survey conducted by OCTA Research and released on Tuesday showed.
Results of the survey, conducted from July 22 to 26, found that around 50 percent or an estimated 13.2 million Filipino families consider themselves poor compared to an estimated 11.3 million families recorded in March 2023.
The estimate is based on the total number of households in the 2020 Census of Population and Housing.
“This is an additional 1.9 million Filipino families who now consider themselves poor or “new poor” compared to the First Quarter TNM Survey conducted last March 2023,” the research firm said in a press release.
The hike in the number of self-rated poor families was mainly due to the significant increase in Vi0sayas (from 37% to 57%) and Mindanao (45% to 59%), OCTA added.
Compared to other major areas, Mindanao has the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who considered their families poor, it said.
Six out of 10 of adult Filipinos also think that the state of poverty in the country has remained unchanged compared to before.
The survey has a ±3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level. A total of 1,200 adult respondents were interviewed for the survey.