Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 1) — Nearly half of Filipino families rate themselves poor, according to the latest survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
The survey, which was conducted from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, showed that 48% or 13.2 million families believe they are living in poverty.
This is higher than the 45% or 12.5 million self-rated poor families recorded in June.
The poll released on Tuesday also showed that 27% of families rated themselves as living in borderline conditions while 25% consider themselves as not poor.
\”The 3-point rise in the nationwide Self-Rated Poor figure between June 2023 and September 2023 was due to increases in all areas, especially in Mindanao, combined with a decline in Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila),\” said SWS.
The SWS noted that Mindanao had a significant rise of families who consider themselves impoverished, rising from 54% to 71%.
Furthermore, the number of households in Mindanao who think they are food poor, or do not have enough income to meet basic their food needs, rose from 40% to 51%.
The same survey also stated that 6.6% or 1.8 million of self-rated poor families are considered as \”newly poor\” or those who were not poor one to four years ago.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. earlier ordered the National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) to identify problematic communities in the country.
The NAPC aims to reduce the poverty incidence from the 2021 figure of 18.1% to 9% by 2028.
The non-commissioned survey interviewed 1,200 adults nationwide.
