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SWS: Fewer Pinoys consider themselves poor since March


Fewer Filipino families – about 9.8 million – consider themselves "mahirap" (poor) than in the last three months, according to a new survey by pollster Social Weather Stations. In its poll conducted June 3 to 6, the SWS noted the poverty figure was a two-percent drop to 49 percent from 51 percent (about 10.4 million families) in March. The SWS also noted a four-point decline in terms of being food-poor, to 36 percent (7.2 million families), from 40 percent (8.1 million) in March. But the SWS, which on Friday released the results of its June 3–6 survey on its media partner BusinessWorld, also noted the improvement has been "uneven." It also noted poor families have tightened their belts further. Significant advances, worse numbers In its survey, the SWS noted significant advances in “Balance Luzon" (Luzon minus Metro Manila), but also cited worse numbers in Metro Manila and Mindanao. Self-rated poverty fell to a near record low of 38 percent in Balance Luzon, down 16 points from 54 percent in March. The SWS said this was the lowest for the area since the 22 percent in March 1987. But self-rated poverty rose by 13 points in Mindanao to 62 percent from 49 percent, and by nine points in Metro Manila to 43 percent from 34 percent. It remained at 61 percent in the Visayas. Self-rated poverty fell two points to 43 percent in the urban areas and by six points to 53 percent in the rural areas Food poverty Self-rated food poverty dropped to a record 28 percent in Balance Luzon from 42 percent in March, surpassing the previous low of 29 percent in March 2010. But the food-poor ratio also worsened in Mindanao, by seven points to 45 percent, and in Metro Manila where it rose by four points to 28 percent. Fewer families declared themselves food-poor in the Visayas, where the figure improved to 48 percent from 51 percent in March. The SWS noted self-rated poverty/food poverty thresholds, or monthly budgets that poor households say they need so they will not consider themselves poor/food-poor, remained sluggish despite considerable inflation. In turn, this indicated that families are continuing to lower their living standards. Compared to the previous quarter, the median poverty threshold for poor households fell by P4,000 in Metro Manila (P11,000), by P1,300 in “Balance Luzon" (P7,700) and by P1,000 in Mindanao (P6,000). It stayed at P8,000 in the Visayas. The median food-poverty threshold for poor households fell by P2,000 in Metro Manila (P6,000) and “Balance Luzon" (P3,000) and by less than P1,000 in Mindanao (P3,000). It stayed at P4,000 in the Visayas. Hunger The SWS said the poverty/food-poverty findings are consistent with those on hunger. The survey found hunger at 23.8 percent among self-rated poor, more than three times the 7.1 percent among the “not poor" and 6.7 percent among those on the borderline. Among the self-rated food-poor, hunger was at 27 percent, around four times the 7.1 percent among the “not food-poor" and almost three times the 9.9 percent among those on the food borderline. Severe hunger, defined as experiencing having nothing to eat “often" or “always" in the last three months, was at 2.9 percent among poor households, 1.9 percent among the not poor and 0.5 percent among families on the borderline. It was at 3.2 percent among the self-rated food-poor, 1.8 percent among the not food-poor and 0.8 percent among those on the food borderline. Moderate hunger, experiencing hunger “only once" or “a few times" in the last three months, was at 20.9 percent among poor households, 5.2 percent among the not poor and 6.2 percent among those on the borderline. It was at 23.7 percent among the self-rated food-poor, 5.2 percent among the not food-poor, and 9.1 percent among families on the food borderline. “As a concept, poverty allows for various degrees of deprivation. Those who suffer from hunger are much more deprived than those who simply suffer from poverty," the SWS said. The latest SWS survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide. It had error margins of +/-3% and +/-6% for national and area percentages, respectively. — LBG, GMA News

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