Almost half of Filipinos rate themselves 'poor' —SWS poll

Almost half or 49% of Filipino families have rated themselves "poor," slightly up from the previous 48%, according to the results of a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released Thursday.

The SWS said the one-point rise was due to slight increases in the Visayas, Metro Manila, and Mindanao combined with a steady percentage in Balance Luzon or Luzon outside Metro Manila.

While 49% of Filipino families rated themselves poor, 29% rated themselves "borderline," down from the previous 31%, and 21% rated themselves "not poor," same as previous.

The survey was conducted from September 29 to October 2, 2022 and was the first under the administration of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. The previous survey was conducted in June 2022.

The SWS said the estimated numbers of Self-Rated Poor families are 12.6 million in October 2022 and 12.2 million in June 2022.

SWS measures Self-Rated Poverty (SRP) quarterly through face-to-face surveys since 1992, except in the first three quarters of 2020 when face-to-face was not possible for lack of public transportation during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SWS resumed the SRP surveys in the 4th quarter of 2020.

'Food poor'

Meanwhile, the same survey showed that 34% of families have rated themselves "food poor," 38% "borderline," and 28% "not food poor."

"Compared to June 2022, the percentage of Food-Poor families stayed at 34%, Food Borderline families fell slightly from 40%, and Not Food-Poor families rose slightly from 26%," the SWS said.

The estimated numbers of Self-Rated Food Poor families are 8.7 million in both October 2022 and June 2022.

"Food-Poor rises in all areas except in Balance Luzon," the SWS said.

The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults nationwide: 300 each in Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao, and 600 in Balance Luzon. Its sampling error margins are ±2.5% for national percentages, ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao, and ±4.0% for Balance Luzon. —KBK, GMA News