SWS: Self-rated poverty falls to 47%

MANILA, Philippines - Self-rated poverty declined anew in the first quarter of 2009, but this was more because of belt-tightening measures Filipino families have adopted, pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS) has said. The SWS said some 47 percent or about 8.7 million Filipino families consider themselves poor, 26 percent rate themselves not poor, while 27 percent see themselves on the borderline. "Self-Rated Poverty has been on a generally downward trend since mid-2008, declining from 59% in June 2008, 52% in September, 52% in December, to 47% in February 2009," SWS noted on its Web site. But it added that the Self-Rated Poverty Threshold, or the monthly budget poor households need so they won’t consider themselves poor in general, has been sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation. "This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards, i.e., belt-tightening," it said. SWS said its survey on poverty for the first quarter of 2009 was conducted last Feb. 20 to 23. The pollster said the February 2009 survey also found that 36 percent of Filipino families (about 6.7 million) consider themselves as Food-Poor, 34 percent put themselves on the Food-Borderline, and 30 percent consider themselves as Not Food-Poor. It noted Self-Rated Food Poverty has been volatile, but declining since it went from 49 percent in June 2008, to 38 percent in September, 42 percent in December and finally to 36 percent in February 2009. Self-Rated Poverty declined by 14 points in Mindanao, from 59 percent in December 2008 to 45 percent in February 2009. It declined slightly in Metro Manila, from 53 percent to 49 percent, and in Balance Luzon, from 44 percent to 42 percent. But, it stayed at 60 percent in the Visayas over the past two quarters, barely changing from 59 percent in September. Self-Rated Poverty in urban areas went down from 47 percent to 43 percent, while it declined slightly in rural areas, from 56 percent to 53 percent. Also, the SWS said the one-quarter decline in Self-Rated Food Poverty is also sharpest in Mindanao. It declined by 15 points, from 51 percent in December to 36 percent in February. It declined slightly in the Visayas, from 50 percent to 45 percent, in Balance Luzon, from 35 percent to 31 percent, and in Metro Manila, from 42 percent to 39 percent, the SWS added. As of February 2009, the median poverty threshold for poor households in Metro Manila stayed at P10,000, even though it had already reached as much as P15,000 several times in the past. For those in Mindanao, the median poverty threshold stayed at P5,000, though it had already been at P10,000 before. The median poverty thresholds of poor households rose slightly to P8,000 in Balance Luzon, and to P7,500 in the Visayas, but had also already reached P10,000 before for both areas. The median food-poverty thresholds for poor households dwindled to P4,800 in Metro Manila, and to P3,000 in Balance Luzon. It stayed at P4,000 in Balance Luzon, and at P3,000 in Mindanao. These levels had already been reached several years ago, it said. In Metro Manila, the median poverty threshold is still P10,000 as in 2000, even though the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has risen by about 55 percent since then. The NCR median poverty threshold of P10,000 per month for February 2009 is equivalent to only P6,456 in base year 2000 purchasing power, after deflation by the CPI. The deflated poverty threshold for NCR of below P7,000 per month is a throw-back to living standards of over twenty years ago. "In four SWS surveys in 2000, the base year of the CPI, the median SWS poverty threshold for NCR was already P10,000 per month, equivalent to P15,490 per month at the February 2009 cost of living, given the CPI of 154.9. The difference of P15,490 – P 10,000 = P5,490 between the thresholds of 2000 and February 2009 measures the extent of belt-tightening that took place," SWS said. On the other hand, it said median food poverty threshold of P4,800 in Metro Manila is equivalent to only P3,194 in base year 2000 purchasing power for food. The median food poverty threshold in December 2000 was P6,000 for Metro Manila. It is equivalent to P9,018 per month at the February 2009 cost of food, given the latest CPI of 150.1 for food items. The difference of P9,018 – P4,800 = P4,218 between the food thresholds of 2000 and February 2009 is the extent of belt-tightening made by food-poor Metro Manila households. The First Quarter of 2009 Social Weather Survey was conducted, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults in Metro Manila, the Balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, ±6% for area percentages, applied to the survey. The SWS survey questions about the family's poverty and food-poverty are directed to the household head. - GMANews.TV