SWS: 43% of Filipino families feel poor

Almost half of Filipino families consider themselves “poor," the latest survey of the Social Weather Station (SWS) showed.

In its quarterly survey conducted from April 19 to 27, SWS found that 43 percent or 10.9 million Filipino families rated themselves as “poor," 34 percent said they are “borderline poor” while 23 percent felt they are “not poor”.

Those who feel poor slightly increased in the April survey compared to the  December 2021 poll which showed 10.7 Filipino families (43 percent) consider themselves "poor," 39 percent felt "borderline poor" while 19 percent are “not poor”.

SWS explained the rise in self-rated poverty in the Philippines was due to the combined uptick in Mindanao and Metro Manila and the decreases in the Visayas and Balanced Luzon.

Those who considered themselves “poor” rose from 43 percent to 60 percent in Mindanao and 32 percent from 25 percent in Metro Manila. However, its rate fell from 59 percent to 48 percent in the Visayas and 35 percent from 41 percent in the Balanced Luzon.

1.5 million Filipinos "newly poor"

In the same survey, the polling firm asked the self-rated “poor” Filipino families if they have experienced being “non-poor” — either poor or borderline poor.

At least 6.1 percent said they are “newly poor” or were not “non-poor” in the last four years. 4.5 percent said they are “usually poor” or “non-poor” five or more years ago while 32.2 percent said they are “always poor” or were never not “non-poor”.

This translates to 1.5 million Filipino families being “newly poor”, 1.1 million being “usually poor” and 8.2 million were “always poor”.

Participated in by 1, 440 adults, the said national survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews. Its sampling error margins are ±2.6% for national percentages and ±5.2% for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

The survey is non-commissioned.—LDF, GMA News