MANILA – A significant rise in self-rated poor households has been observed in Mindanao, according to the latest survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) conducted from September 28 to October 1.
While almost all areas witnessed a surge in households who feel poor, Mindanao had the most glaring increase, with self-rated poor families jumping to 71% in September, compared to 54% in the June survey.
In other regions, Metro Manila saw a slight uptick in self-rated poor households, from 23% to 40%, while Balance Luzon experienced a minor drop to 35% in September, down from 38% in June. In the Visayas, self-rated poor households increased incrementally, from 57% to 59%.
In the third quarter of 2023, overall, nearly half – or 48% – of Filipino families across the nation expressed feeling poor. About 27% considered themselves borderline poor, and a minority of 25% believed they were “hindi mahirap” (not poor).
This represents a slight increase from the 45% who considered themselves poor in the second-quarter survey released in July 2023.
Of the self-rated poor, approximately 6.6% had transitioned into this category, having previously been classified as “not poor” or “borderline” in the past. SWS estimated that this means about 13.2 million families identified as poor with 1.8 million newly identifying as such.
Nationally, the percentage of self-rated food-poor families also clocked a slight increase, rising from 34% in June to 35% in the latest survey.
The primary driver of this increase came from self-rated food-poor households in Mindanao, which surged from 40% in June to 51% in September.
On the other hand, there was a slight decrease in Metro Manila, from 32% to 29%, and in Balance Luzon, from 28% to 24%, as well as in the Visayas, from 42% to 39%.
The Third Quarter 2023 Social Weather Survey, conducted from September 28 to October 1, 2023. Surveys were conducted by face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults aged 18 and older nationwide. The sample included 300 participants from each of the following regions: Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. The sampling error margins are ±2.8% for national figures and ±5.7% for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
