More Filipino families have considered themselves poor or “mahirap,” a Social Weather Stations survey has found out.
The SWS said 45 percent or an estimated 11.1 million families considered themselves poor, up seven percentage points from the record-low 38 percent or 9.5 million families in March 2019.
The number of self-rated poor families went up after a 14-point decrease over previous three quarters – 52 percent in September 2018, 50 percent in December, and 38 percent last March.
The survey conducted from June 22 to 26 also showed that at least 35 percent or an estimated 8.5 million families rated their food as mahirap or poor, termed by the SWS as “food poor,” eight percentage points above the record-low 27 percent or an estimated 6.8 million families in the March 2019 survey.
The rise in the proportion of food poor families comes after a nine-point decline over the previous three quarters – 36 percent in September 2018, 34 percent in December 2018, and 27 percent in March 2019.
Poor families and food poor families significantly increased in Mindanao from the record-low 37 percent in March to 56 percent in June and from record-low 27 percent in March to 47 percent in June, respectively.
Poor families also rose in Balance Luzon (from 35 percent in March to 40 percent in June) and in Metro Manila (from 28 percent in March to 31 percent in June) while it stayed at 55 percent in the Visayas.
Self rated poor families also went up in Balance Luzon (from record-low 24 percent in March to 30 percent in June) and in Metro Manila (from 19 percent in March to 22 percent in June), while it fell by three percentage points in the Visayas (from 42 percent in March to 39 percent in June).
The June survey also found out that among the estimated 24.6 million total households surveyed, 12.1 percent or at least three million families used to be poor one to four years ago, termed by SWS as “newly noon-poor,” while 13.8 percent or 3.4 million families used to be poor five or more years ago or those “usually non-poor.”
On the other hand, 28.7 percent (estimated 7.1 million) have never considered themselves as poor, classified as “always non-poor.” (Alexandria San Juan)
