The Fourth Quarter 2022 Social Weather Survey, conducted from December 10-14, 2022, found that 53% of Filipino families received help in the past three months, most commonly in the form of money that was given (32%), followed by food (25%), money that was lent (6%), non-food items (2%), support for schooling or training (2%), any kind of service (2%), and jobs (2%). The respondent-household heads were allowed to give more than one answer.
On the other hand, 47% of Filipino families did not receive any help in the past three months.
The December 2022 survey also found that among families that received help in the past three months, 60% got it from the government, 37% from their relatives, 11% from friends, 5% from a private person who is not a relative or friend, 3% from private companies, 3% from non-government organizations or NGOs, and 1% from religious organizations.
Since December 2019, money that was given (or money-help) was the most common form of help received by families, except in September 2021 when food (38%) and money-help (35%) were the top two forms of help received by families. Among families that received help, the government was the most common source – reaching as high as 75% in April 2021 – except in December 2019 when the government (48%) and relatives (45%) were the top two sources of help.
Money-help is the most common form of help in all areas
In all areas, money-help was the most common form of help received by the families in the past three months, ranging from 31% to 34%. Food was the second most mentioned form of help: it was 31% in Metro Manila, 27% in Mindanao, 24% in Balance Luzon, and 19% in the Visayas. Other forms of help got single-digit mentions.
53% of Filipino families receive aid in past 3 months – SWS
On the other hand, the percentage of families that did not receive any help in the past three months was higher in the Visayas (54%) than in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, and Mindanao (46% each).
Among Filipino families who got help, the government was the most mentioned source in all areas: 67% in both Mindanao and the Visayas, 58% in Metro Manila, and 56% in Balance Luzon. Relatives were the second most common sources of help, cited by 41% in Balance Luzon, 40% in Metro Manila, 34% in Mindanao, and 28% in the Visayas.
Roughly the same help among Poor, Borderline Poor, and Not Poor families
The December 2022 survey found 51% of Filipino families rated themselves as Mahirap or Poor, 31% rating themselves as Borderline (by placing themselves on a horizontal line dividing Poor and Not Poor), and 19% rated themselves as Hindi Mahirap or Not Poor.
Overall, the percentage of families that received any kind of help in the past three months was roughly the same among Poor (54%), Borderline (52%), and Not Poor (48%) families.
By forms of help, Filipino families that received money-help were roughly the same among Poor (34%), Borderline (31%), and Not Poor (27%) families, while families that received food hardly varied, ranging from 24% to 26%.
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