SWS: 51% of Filipinos think they’re poor

Jodesz Gavilan

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SWS: 51% of Filipinos think they’re poor

EPA

The SWS survey results show that there are less Metro Manila residents who consider themselves poor – 31% in the first quarter of 2015 from 43% in December 2014

MANILA, Philippines – Fifty-one percent of Filipinos consider themselves poor in the first quarter of 2015, statiscally the same as the previous quarter, the results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

According to the results of the First Quarter 2015 Social Weather Survey (SWS) first published in BusinessWorld, 51% of respondents rated themselves as poor – only a point lower than the December 2014 rate of 52% or 11.4 million families. 

The result was just 3 points below the 2014 average of 54%, considered as the lowest annual rating obtained during the Aquino administration. (READ: Over half of Filipinos consider themselves poor – SWS)

‘Big improvement’ in Metro Manila

SWS noted a “big improvement” among Metro Manila respondents, as self-rated poverty in the Philippine capital region went down to 31% in the first quarter of 2015, from 43% in December 2014.

The 12-point decrease is the lowest prevalence in the area since 2004. In Balance Luzon, the number of self-rated poor families was at 44%, down from 45%.

In contrast, the number of self-rated poor families in the Visayas rose to 70% from 65%, and to 62% from 60% in Mindanao.

SWS found out that the median self-rated poverty threshold in the regions decreased generally.

Self-rated poverty threshold refers to the lowest monthly budget needed by households to not be considered as poor. 

Poverty threshold down in NCR, up in Luzon

In Metro Manila, the first quarter poverty threshold went down to P15,000 ($336) from P20,000 ($448) in December. The threshold in Luzon areas outside the capital meanwhile shot up to P15,000 from P8,000 ($179).

In the Visayas, respondents said the monthly budget needed to not be considered poor is P10,000 ($224) from P12,000 ($268) in the last quarter of 2014. In Mindanao, it is P10,000 – the same as in the previous quarter.

The survey was conducted from March 20 to 23 using personal interviews with 1,200 Filipino adult heads of households around the Philippines. Sampling error margins are at ±3 points for national percentages, and ±6 points each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

SWS said it “employs its own staff for questionnaire design, sampling, fieldwork, data-processing, and analysis, and does not outsource any of its survey operations.” – Rappler.com

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Jodesz Gavilan

Jodesz Gavilan is a writer and researcher for Rappler and its investigative arm, Newsbreak. She covers human rights and impunity beats, producing in-depth and investigative reports particularly on the quest for justice of victims of former president Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs and war on dissent.