NEARLY half of Filipino families consider themselves poor, according to a new survey from the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
The SWS estimated that the number of self-rated poor families was 13.2 million as of September, an increase of about 700,000 families from June.
The SWS survey, conducted from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, also revealed that 27 percent of Filipinos viewed themselves as “borderline” cases.
In the latest survey, 48 percent of Filipinos rated themselves as poor in September, up from the self-rated poverty rate of 45 percent in June.
The remaining 25 percent considered themselves not poor.
The three-point rise in the nationwide self-rated poor figure between June and September 2023 was due to increases in all areas, with Mindanao recording the highest increase in families who rated themselves poor at 71 percent, which is a seven-point increase from the previous 54 percent.
Self-rated poor families in Balance Luzon also jumped to 39 percent from 35 percent, while self-rated poor families in Metro Manila also climbed to 38 percent from 35 percent.
Self-rated poor families in the Visayas increased to 59 percent from 57 percent.
“Compared to June 2023, the percentage of poor families rose by 3 points from 45 percent, while borderline families fell by 6 points from 33 percent, and not poor families rose by 3 points from 22 percent,” the SWS report said.
The SWS said almost 2 million families consider themselves to be newly poor, meaning they did not see themselves as poor at least five years ago.
“Of the estimated 13.2 million self-rated poor families in September 2023, 1.8 million were newly poor, 1.7 million were usually poor, and 9.7 million were always poor,” said the SWS.
The new survey also found that the self-rated poor increased in all areas except for Balance Luzon, which is the areas outside of Metro Manila.
“We note that the survey was conducted after a series of typhoons hit the country, which also affected food prices,” the report quoted National Economic and Development authority Undersecretary Rosemarie Edillon as saying. “This could have resulted in feelings of insecurity among the families who were directly affected by the typhoon and those who did not have the means to cope with the increase in prices.”
