Families who rated themselves as poor rose to 55 percent, or approximately 16.8 million families, in the third quarter of the year, up by six percentage points from 49 percent, or an estimated 13.6 million families, in the second quarter, according to a September 21 to 27 survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS).
The survey, which involved 1,500 adult respondents nationwide with a margin of error of ±3 percent, also showed that 9 percent of Filipinos rated their families as “Borderline,” or those who placed themselves on the line dividing the Poor and the Not Poor, dropping five percentage points from 14 percent. Meanwhile, 36 percent, nearly unchanged from 37 percent, classified themselves as Not Poor.
Self-rated poverty was highest in Mindanao at 64 percent (up from 61 percent) and the Visayas at 63 percent (up from 59 percent), followed by the Balance of Luzon at 51 percent (up from 41 percent) and Metro Manila at 44 percent (up from 40 percent).
The proportion of families identifying as Not Poor was highest in Metro Manila at 48 percent (down from 49 percent), followed by Luzon at 42 percent (down from 47 percent), the Visayas at 26 percent (unchanged), and Mindanao at 26 percent (up from 21 percent).
Families reporting as borderline poor declined across all geographical areas, with the Visayas recording 11 percent (down from 15 percent), Mindanao at 10 percent (down from 18 percent), Luzon at 7 percent (down from 12 percent), and Metro Manila at 7 percent (down from 11 percent).
Families identifying as food poor rose to 44 percent, or 13.3 million (up from 36 percent or 10.2 million). Borderline food poor families fell to 9 percent (down from 15 percent), while those identifying as not food poor stood at 47 percent (down from 49 percent).
Self-Rated Food Poverty increased across all geographical regions, peaking in Mindanao at 52 percent (up from 45 percent) and the Visayas at 51 percent (up from 45 percent), followed by Luzon at 40 percent (up from 31 percent) and Metro Manila at 31 percent (up from 27 percent).
SWS found that respondents claimed they need P15,000 monthly to avoid being considered poor (up from P14,000) and P8,000 monthly (up from P6,000) to avoid being considered food poor.
The survey results indicated that families in Metro Manila and Luzon stated they need P20,000 monthly (down from P21,000 and up from P12,500, respectively) to not be considered poor, while those in the Visayas said they need P15,000 (up from P10,000) and those in Mindanao need P10,000 (unchanged).
SWS also said respondents required P10,000 monthly in Metro Manila (down from P15,000) to avoid being considered food poor, P9,000 in Luzon (up from P5,000), P8,000 in the Visayas (up from P6,000), and P6,000 in Mindanao (up from P5,000).