NON-POOR. A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey shows 53.6 percent of Filipino families rated themselves as "non-poor" (not-poor + borderline) for the first quarter of 2024. The March 2024 survey, released on Thursday (April 25, 2024), also showed that 46 percent of families considered themselves poor. (SWS infographic)
MANILA – A Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed that 53.6 percent of Filipino families rated themselves as "non-poor" for the first quarter of 2024.
According to the survey, conducted from March 21 to 25 and released on Thursday, self-rated non-poor families consist of 30 percent borderline and 23 percent not poor.
Compared to the December 2023 survey, the recent self-rated non-poor figures show that borderline families declined by 3 points from 33 percent, while not-poor families increased by 3 points from 20 percent.
Meanwhile, the March 2024 survey showed that 46 percent of families considered themselves poor, which hardly changed from the 47 percent recorded in the previous survey.
The estimated numbers of self-rated non-poor and poor families were 14.9 million and 12.9 million respectively.
The pollster noted that the 1-point decline in the nationwide self-rated poor figure between December 2023 and March 2024 was due to slight decreases in Mindanao and Metro Manila, combined with an increase in the Visayas and a steady score in Balance Luzon.
"As of March 2024, the percentage of Self-Rated Poor families was highest in the Visayas at 64 percent, followed by Mindanao at 56 percent, Balance Luzon at 38 percent, and Metro Manila at 33 percent," the SWS said.
The survey asked those who were self-rated non-poor if they had ever experienced being poor in the past.
According to the SWS study, the total percentage of non-poor families consisted of 15.6 percent who were poor one year to four years ago or labeled as the "newly non-poor", 10.1 percent who were poor five or more years ago or “usually non-poor”, and 27.8 percent who never experienced being poor or "always non-poor.”
Of the estimated 14.9 million self-rated non-poor families in March this year, 4.3 million were newly non-poor, 2.8 million were usually non-poor, and 7.7 million were always non-poor.
Among the 46 percent who identified as poor, 6 percent, or about 1.7 million families, were considered “newly poor” or those who were non-poor one year to four years ago, while 5.3 percent, or about 1.5 million families, were usually poor, or classified themselves non-poor five or more years ago.
A total of 34.9 percent, or 9.7 million families, considered themselves "always poor" or never experienced being non-poor.
The SWS said the national median Self-Rated Poverty Threshold (SRP Threshold), or the minimum monthly budget self-rated poor families said they need not be considered as poor, remained at PHP15,000 in the past nine quarters.
Meanwhile, the national median Self-Rated Poverty Gap (SRP Gap) fell from PHP7,000 in December 2023 to PHP5,000 in March 2024.
This refers to how much self-rated poor respondents say they lack in home expenses relative to their stated SRP threshold.
In terms of self-rated food poverty, the March 2024 survey found 33 percent of families rating themselves as food-poor, 36 percent rating themselves as food borderline, and 31 percent rating themselves as not food-poor.
Compared to December 2023, the percentage of food-poor families hardly changed from 32 percent, while food borderline families fell slightly from 41 percent, and not food-poor families rose slightly from 26 percent.
The estimated number of self-rated food-poor families was 9.3 million in March 2024.
The survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews with 1,500 respondents nationwide.
It has sampling error margins of ±2.5 percent for national percentages, ±4 percent for Balance Luzon, and ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao. (PNA)
