Fewer families go hungry in Q4 – SWS

MANILA, Philippines – Fewer Filipino families went hungry during the Christmas season, a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed. 

In the December 8 to 11 survey, results of which were first published by BusinessWorld, 16.3% of respondents equivalent to 3.3 million households said they were hungry in the last 3 months.

This was the lowest since June 2011’s 15.1% or 3 million families, and lower than the 21% or 4.3 million households recorded in the August 2012 survey of SWS.

In Metro Manila, 719,000 families or 25.3% of those surveyed said they went hungry in October to December, when the country celebrated the Christmas season. This was higher than the 22% recorded in December 2011, but lower than the 26% in August 2012.  

Close to a million families or 20% of those polled in Mindanao said they went hungry in the last quarter of 2012, slightly higher than the 19.7% in December 2011 and lower than the 30% in August 2012.

The SWS polled a total of 1,200 adults nationwide through face-to-face interviews.

It asked respondents the question: “Nitong nakaraang tatlong buwan, nangyari po ba kahit minsan na ang inyong pamilya ay nakaranas ng gutom at wala kayong makain? (In the last 3 months, did your family, even once, experience hunger?)

Those who replied yes were then asked: “Nangyari po ba ’yan nang minsan lamang, mga ilang beses, madalas or palagi?” (Did it happen only once, a few times, often or always?) – Rappler.com