16.3 million Filipino families consider themselves poor

October 10, 2024 | 11:03am

MANILA, Philippines — More than half of Filipino families considered themselves poor as of September, according to a new survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

In the survey released on Wednesday, October 9, the SWS found that 59% of Filipino families see themselves as poor. This translates to 16.3 million families. 

The previous SWS survey found the self-rated poverty at 58% in June, or 16 million families. This means there are around 300,000 more families who have started to consider themselves poor since June. 

The SWS found there was a sharp increase of self-rated poverty in Metro Manila. 

“Compared to June 2024, Self-Rated Poverty rose by 13 points in Metro Manila from 39%, and by three points in Balance Luzon from 52%. However, it fell slightly by five points in the Visayas from 67%, and four points in Mindanao from 71%,” the SWS said. 

Despite this increase, Metro Manila still has the lowest self-rated poverty rate. The current self-rated poverty per area now stands at: 

• Metro Manila: 52% 
• Balance Luzon: 55%
• Visayas: 62%
• Mindanao: 67%   

Meanwhile, 13% of Filipino families consider themselves borderline poor as of September, which is a one point increase from the 12% in June. A total of 28% of Filipino families consider themselves not poor, which is a two point decrease from June. 

The SWS found that 9.1% of families are now “newly poor,” meaning that they used to label each other not poor, but now they do. 

Self-rated food poverty among Filipino families is at 46% in September, remaining unchanged from June. 

A total of 17% rated themselves borderline food poor while 37% labeled themselves as not food poor.

Like the self-rated poverty rate, the self-rated food poverty rate increased due to a sharp increase in Metro Manila.  

“Compared to June 2024, Self-Rated Food Poverty rose by eight points in Metro Manila from 31%. However, it barely changed in Balance Luzon from 42%, and the Visayas from 50%, while it stayed at 61% in Mindanao,” the SWS said. 

Here are the self-rated food poverty rates per area: 

• Metro Manila: 39% 
• Balance Luzon: 39%
• Visayas: 49%
• Mindanao: 61%  

The Self-Rated Poverty Threshold, which is the minimum household income that families say they need to not consider themselves poor, is at P12,000. This is a decrease from the consistent P15,000 from April 2022 to June 2024. 

The SWS surveyed 1,500 adults nationwide from September 14 to 23 using face-to-face interviews. Per area, 600 people were interviewed in Balance Luzon, while 300 people were interviewed each from Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao. There is a sampling error of ±2.5%.