Nearly six out of 10 Filipinos considered themselves poor during the third quarter this year despite easing inflation in the country, survey firm Social Weather Stations (SWS) said earlier this week.
In its latest non-commissioned survey, conducted from September 14-23, 2024, SWS noted that 59 percent of Filipino families, or 16.3 million Pinoys, consider themselves poor.
The latest figure is a one percentage point increase from the 58 percent or 16 million self-rated poor Filipinos recorded in the June 2024 survey and marks “the highest percentage of self-rated poor families since June 2008.”
The SWS attributed the sharp increase in the self-rated poor Filipinos to more Pinoys in Metro Manila despite the headline inflation easing to 1.9 percent in September 2024 from 3.3 percent in June 2024.
SWS added that the self-rated poverty also slightly increased Balance Luzon. At the same time, the figures slightly fell in the Visayas and Mindanao.
SWS said the self-rated poor in the National Capital Region sharply increased by 13 percentage points to 52 percent from 39 percent, followed by Balance Luzon (or areas outside Metro Manila) by 3 percentage points to 55 percent from 52 percent.
SWS said the self-rated poor in Mindanao eased by four points to 67 percent from 71 percent. Those in the Visayas who considered themselves impoverished declined by five percentage points to 62 percent from 67 percent.
The study likewise indicated that 9.1 percent of families are classified as “Newly Poor,” meaning they did not perceive themselves as poor 1 to 4 years ago. This equates to 2.5 million families identified as Newly Poor. In contrast, there were 2.3 million families categorized as Usually Poor, and 11.5 million families classified as Always Poor.
“The percentage of respondent households rating themselves as poor was applied to the Philippine Statistics Authority medium-population projections for 2024 to arrive at the estimated numbers of Self-Rated Poor families,” SWS said.
SWS also noted that the median monthly family expenses for housing were P3,000 for rent, P2,000 for transportation to work and school, P1,000 for internet, and P400 for mobile phone load.
In the September 2024 survey, the median monthly family expense for house rent was highest in Metro Manila at P3,500, followed by Balance Luzon at P3,000, the Visayas at P2,250, and Mindanao at P1,500.
The median monthly expense for transportation to work and school was also highest in Metro Manila, at P2,500, with Balance Luzon and the Visayas both at P2,000 and Mindanao at P1,500.
SWS conducted its third quarter survey from September 14 to 23, 2024, through face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults aged 18 and older across the country. This included 600 respondents from Balance Luzon (Luzon outside Metro Manila) and 300 each from Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
The margins of sampling error are ±2.5 percent for national figures, ±4.0 percent for Balance Luzon, and ±5.7 percent for each of the regions: Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao. (TCSP)
