Self-rated poverty decreased in the third quarter of 2024 with around 43% or about 11.3 million Filipino families who consider themselves poor, according to the latest Tugon ng Masa (TNM) survey results conducted by OCTA Research.
According to the OCTA Research, this represented a ‘’notable improvement compared to the 48% that was recorded in the second quarter TNM survey conducted in June.
The survey said that the 5-percentage point drop equates to a reduction of around 1.4 million families no longer considering themselves poor, underscoring a notable shift in self-perceptions of poverty during the period.
OCTA Research said this marks a significant improvement from the 16% that was recorded in the TNM survey conducted in June. ‘’The 5-percentage point drop represents a decrease of approximately 1.3 million families who no longer faced hunger in the third quarter of 2024.
Compared to the June 2024 survey, the self-rated poverty fell by seven percentage points in Balance Luzon (37% to 30%) and by 17 percentage points in Mindanao (77% to 60%).
In the National Capital Region, the self-rated poverty rate dropped from 28% to 35% and in the Visayas from 52% to 59%, both by seven percentage points.
Meanwhile, Mindanao has the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who consider their families poor at 60 percent, followed by Visayas at 59 percent.
When it comes to socioeconomic class, the highest self-rated poverty is observed among Class E, with 79% of families identifying as poor.
On the other hand, an estimated 11% of Filipino families, or roughly 2.9 million, reported experiencing involuntary hunger that is defined as having gone without food at least once in the past three months prior to the survey.
At least 34% of adult Filipinos expressed belief that the state of poverty in the country was worse than before. In Mindanao, it has the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who think poverty is worse than before, at 58%, followed by Visayas (50%).
The survey fieldwork was conducted from August 28 to September 2, 2024, using face-to-face interviews. A total of 1,200 male and female respondents aged 18 and above were interviewed for the study.
