2.2M Pinoy households ‘newly poor,’ says SWS

Around 13 million Filipino households still identify themselves as poor, a Social Weather Stations survey has shown.

The poll, conducted from 8 to 11 December 2023, showed a slight decline to 47 percent of those who rate themselves poor. In September 2023, self-rated low-income families stood at 48 percent or 13.2 million households.

“The one-point decline in the nationwide Self-Rated Poor figure between September 2023 and December 2023 was due to a decrease in Mindanao, combined with a slight increase in Balance Luzon (or outside Metro Manila) and steady scores in Metro Manila and the Visayas,” the SWS said in its report.

Of the estimated 13 million self-rated poor families in December 2023, SWS said 2.2 million households were “newly poor,” 1.6 million were “usually poor,” and 9.2 million were “always poor.”

The percentage of poor families that said they were “not poor” fell by 5 points from 25 percent in its September 2023 survey to 20 percent in its latest survey.

In contrast, those identifying as “borderline poor” rose by 6 points from 27 percent last September to 33 percent last December.

“This brings the 2023 annual average Self-Rated Poor families to 48 percent, the same as in 2022 and three points above the pre-pandemic average of 45 percent in 2019,” SWS said.

In the same December 2023 survey, SWS cited a notable decrease in self-rated poverty among Mindanao and Balance Luzon respondents. Meanwhile, there was minimal change in both Metro Manila and the Visayas.

The survey results showed a decrease in the percentage of families in Mindanao identifying as poor, dropping by ten percentage points from 71 percent to 61 percent.

However, SWS noted a slight uptick in self-rated poor families in Balance Luzon by four percentage points from 35 percent in September to 39 percent in December.

Meanwhile, the percentage barely changed in Metro Manila from 38 percent in September to 37 percent in December.

Those in the Visayas only experienced a marginal shift from 59 percent in the previous survey to 58 percent in the latest survey.