MORE FILIPINO FAMILIES RATE THEMSELVES AS POOR – SWS SURVEY

Almost 59% of Filipino families sees themselves as poor for September 2024 which was the highest percentage of Self-Rated Poor Families since June 2008 based on the latest survey of national Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The Self-Rated Poverty has estimated numbers of 16.3 million poor families (59%) from 16.0 million (58%) in June 2024, it rose by 1 point which means there are around 300,000 more families who have started to consider themselves poor since June.

 Around 16.3 million Filipino families or close to six of 10 families rated themselves as poor, according to a new survey (Photo courtesy of Reuters/Rappler)

Meanwhile, the survey also found out that the percentage of Not Poor families was at 28% and the percentage of Borderline families is at 13%. Self-Rated Poverty was highest in Mindanao at 67%, followed by the Visayas at 62%, Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila) at 55%, and Metro Manila at 52%. 

On Self-Rated Food Poverty, which is based on the type of food eaten by families, 46% of Filipinos rate themselves as Food-Poor, while 17% as Food Borderline or on the line dividing Food-Poor and Not Food-Poor, and 37% considered themselves Not Food-Poor. 

"The total percentage of poor families consists of 9.1% who were non-poor 1-4 years ago (“Newly Poor”), 8.1% who were non-poor five or more years ago (“Usually Poor”), and 41.5% who never experienced being non-poor (“Always Poor”)," SWS said. 

This translates to 2.5 million newly poor, 2.3 million usually poor, and 11.5 million always poor. Furthermore, the median monthly family expenses for house rent at P3,000, Transportation to work and school at P2,000, Internet at P1,000, and mobile phone load at P400.

"Compared to June 2024, the median monthly family expense remained unchanged for House rent at P3,000 and Transportation to work and school at P2,000. However, it rose for Internet from P900 and Mobile phone load from P360," SWS said.

The September 2024 survey showed 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.

For transportation to work and school, the median monthly family expense was also highest in Metro Manila at P2,500, followed by Balance Luzon at P2,000, the Visayas at P2,000, and Mindanao at P1,500. 

"As of September 2024, the median monthly family expense for Internet was P1,000 in all areas. For Mobile phone load, the September 2024 median monthly family expense was P400 in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, and Mindanao, and P300 in the Visayas," SWS added.

The Third Quarter 2024 survey were conducted from 1,500 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide using face-to-face interviews from September 14 to 23. 600 individuals were respondents from Balance Luzon, while 300 people were interviewed each from Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao. 

Source: Philippine Star 

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