Self-rated poverty, hunger declines in the First Quarter of 2024 — OCTA Survey

Self-rated poverty decreased in the First Quarter of 2024 with around 42% or about 11.1 million Filipino families who consider themselves poor, according to the Tugon ng Masa (TNM) survey results conducted by OCTA Research.

The finding, according to the survey, represents a slight decrease from the estimated 11.9M families (at 45%) recorded in the fourth quarter TNM survey conducted last December 2023.

The 3% decrease, representing approximately 800,000 families, while modest, still represents a continuing downward trend in self-rated poverty observed since July 2023, where self-rated poverty was at 50%.

The survey also showed that Self-rated poverty has been going down at a modest rate for the last five
quarters starting July 2023.

Self-rated poverty significantly decreased in three significant areas, namely: NCR, it declined by 11% from 40% to 29%; in Balance Luzon, it was reduced by 18% from 46% to 28%; in Visayas, it went down by 10% from 57% to 47%.

However, self-rated poverty increased by 14% in Mindanao from 59% in July 2023 to 71% in March 2024.

Across major areas, Mindanao has the highest percentage of adult Filipinos who consider their families poor at 71%, higher by 24 percent compared to Visayas. It is also higher by 42% and 43% compared to NCR and Balance Luzon, respectively. It also has the lowest percentage of non-poor at only 4%, lower than 14% and 17% in NCR and Balance Luzon, respectively.

Across socioeconomic classes, 72% of adult Filipinos belonging to Class E consider their families poor, markedly higher compared with those coming from Class ABC at 14% and Class D at 39%. It also has the lowest percentage of non-poor at 7% compared to 32% for class ABC and 10% for Class D.

There was also a decrease in Self-rated hunger to 11% or an estimated 2.9 million families who experienced involuntary hunger.

"This finding is a 3% decrease from the third quarter TNM survey conducted last December 2023 that recorded 14% or an estimated 3.7 million families. The 3% increase, representing approximately 800 thousand families, deviates from the upward trends observed in the fourth quarter of 2023," the survey showed.

Meanwhile, among those who considered their families poor, the median amount they need for home expenses to not be called poor is 20,000 pesos per month, which is the same as the median in the fourth quarter of 2023 TNM conducted last December 2023.

"Furthermore, the median additional amount for a family not to be called poor is 5,000 pesos per month, lower than the 7,000 pesos recorded in December 2023."

Around 37%, or an estimated 11.1M families in the country, consider themselves food-poor in the first quarter of 2024. This finding represents a significant 5% dip from the fourth quarter TNM survey conducted last December 2023 that recorded 42% of those rated as food-poor.

The fieldwork was conducted from March 11 to 14, 2024, using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 male and female probability respondents aged 18 and above.

The survey has a ±3% margin of error at a 95% confidence level.  Subnational estimates for the geographic areas covered in the survey have the following margins of error at a 95% confidence level: ±6% for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. — BAP, GMA Integrated News