(Eagle News)—Fifty percent of Filipino families consider themselves as poor, a recent Social Weather Stations survey found.
The Fourth Quarter 2018 Social Weather Survey, done from December 16-19, 2018, found that the 50% translates to 11.6 million families.
SWS said this is 2 points below the 52%, or the estimated 12.2 million families in September 2018.
The results come after a 10-point increase in self-rated poverty over two consecutive quarters.
In March, the proportion of self-rated poor families was at 42%.
It rose by 6 points to 48% in June, and by 4 points to 52% in September, the SWS said.
It said the same subsided by 2 points to 50% in December.
“Nevertheless, the resulting average self-rated poverty rate of 48% for 2018 is 2 points above the average 46% in 2017, and 4 points above record-low average of 44% in 2016. This is the second consecutive increase in the annual Self-Rated Poverty rate since 2016,” the SWS said.
Self-rated food -poor
According to the survey, 34% or an estimated 7.9 million families rate their food as mahirap or poor.
This is 2 points below the 36% or the estimated 8.5 million families in September 2018.
It also comes after a 7-point increase in self-rated food poverty over two consecutive quarters, the SWS said.
According to the SWS, the annual average self-rated food poverty is 33% for 2018, similar to the average 33% in 2017, and 2 points above the record-low 31% in 2016.
