More Filipino families have considered themselves poor or “mahirap” in the last quarter of 2019, a Social Weather Stations survey has found out.
The nationwide survey, conducted from Dec. 13 to 16, with 1,200 respondents, showed that 54 percent or 13.1 million Filipino families considered themselves poor in that period.
This is 12 points or 3.1 million higher than the 42 percent or 10.3 million Filipinos in September 2019, the SWS said.
This is also higher than March 2019 at 38 percent and 45 percent in June 2019.
The latest self-rated poverty rate is the highest since September 2014 survey with 55 percent, the SWS noted.
According to the survey, seven percent of the self-rated poor families – or 1.6 million Filipinos – used to be non-poor one to four years ago (newly poor) and another seven percent – or 1.8 million – used to be non-poor five or more years ago (usually poor).
The remaining 40 percent – or 9.7 million – have never experienced being non-poor.
The 12-point rise in nationwide self-rated poverty was due to sharp increases in all areas in the country. (Joseph Pedrajas)