What's Happening?

14 million Filipino families say they’re poor – SWS

by Carl Santos

PUBLISHED ON May 8, 2023

Some 14 million Filipino families considered themselves poor in March 2023, up from 12.9 million in December 2022, according to a new survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

In terms of percentage, 51% of Filipino families rated themselves as poor, 30% identified themselves as borderline (a horizontal line dividing poor and not poor), and 19% said they were not poor.

This is similar to December last year, when poor families were at 51%, borderline families at 31%, and not poor families at 19%.

“Compared to December 2022, Self-Rated Poor rose in Metro Manila from 32% to 40% and in the Visayas from 58% to 65%. However, it fell in Balance Luzon from 49% to 43%, while it was statistically steady in Mindanao, moving from 59% to 62%,” SWS said.

In the last five quarters, the national median Self-Rated Poverty Threshold (SRP Threshold) remained at P15,000, while the national median Self-Rated Poverty Gap (SRP Gap) increased from P5,000 in December 2022 to P6,000 in March 2023.

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In Metro Manila, the median SRP Threshold increased from P15,000 in December 2022 to P20,000 in March 2023, while the median SRP Gap went up from P6,000 to P10,000.

“The SRP Threshold, or the minimum monthly budget self-rated poor families say they need for home expenses in order not to consider themselves poor, has remained sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation. This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards, i.e., belt-tightening,” SWS said.

“In the past, the median SRP Gap has generally been half of the median SRP Threshold. This means that average poor families lack about half of what they need to not consider themselves poor. An increase in the proportion of the median SRP Gap relative to the median SRP Threshold means a worsening in families’ budgets for home expenses,” it added.

The survey was conducted from March 26–29, 2023, using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults (aged 18 and older) nationwide.

The sampling error margins are ±2.8% for national percentages, and ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.