More people think they are poor – survey

Manila, Philippines — After hitting a record-low last March, self-rated poverty reached an all-time high anew with more than 9.4 million Filipino families claiming they are “mahirap” or poor, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results released on Monday.

The nationwide survey conducted last June 25 to 28 among 1,200 respondents found 50 percent, or 9.4 million Filipino households, rating themselves as poor.

The recent figure is higher than the previous 43 percent, or 8.1 million poor families, recorded in March.

The respondents were particularly asked, “Where would you place your family in this card?” A card with words “not poor,” “on the line,” and “poor” were shown to the respondents.

As also shown in the June survey, 38 percent or 7.2 million families said they experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months.

This is higher than the record-low of 31 percent (5.9 million) in the March survey.

The measure of hunger refers to involuntary suffering because the respondents answered a survey question that specifies hunger due to lack of anything to eat.

The respondents were asked, “Nitong nakaraang buwan, nangyari po ba kahit minsan na ang inyong pamilya ay nakaranas ng gutom at wala kayong makain? Kung oo, nangyari po ba yan ng minsan lang, mga ilang beses, madalas, o palagi? (Over the last month, has your family experienced hunger and you have no food to eat? If yes, did it happen once, a few times, most of the time, or often?)"

SWS noted that the present percentage of Filipino families who experienced hunger is still far above the 1998-2010 average of 13.4 percent.

The self-rated poverty and food poverty threshold, or the monthly budget that poor households need in order not to consider themselves poor in general, remains sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation.

This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards through continued belt-tightening.

The survey showed that self-rated poverty and self-rated food poverty were highest in Mindanao from a record-low of 39 percent last March to 56 percent in June, and from 32 to 48 percent, respectively.

Meanwhile, in Metro Manila, self-rated poverty increased 10 points from 38 to 48 percent, and six points in the Visayas from 52 to 58 percent.

However, it hardly changed for the rest of Luzon from 43 percent last March to 44 percent at present.

Self-rated food poverty increased in Metro Manila from 28 to 35 percent, in Visayas from 39 to 45 percent, and in the rest of Luzon from 29 to 31 percent.

Self-rated poverty is also more pronounced in the rural areas with 58 percent in June from 45 percent last March, as compared to poverty in urban areas from 41 to 44 percent.

The survey also cited that the June 2010 median poverty threshold of P10,000 in Metro Manila in particular was the same as 10 years ago, despite the consumer price index rising by over 60 percent in the same period.

SWS said the P10,000 in 2000 is equivalent to P16,320 per month based on the June 2010 cost of living.

To measure the belt-tightening among Filipinos, P16,320 is subtracted with the current P10,000 to get P6,320.

For food poverty, the belt-tightening by Metro Manila’s food-poor households was a lower P3,318.

The latest survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 respondents with sampling error margins of ±3 percent for national percentages, and ±6 percent for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Ellalyn de Vera, Manila Bulletin