The national Social Weather Survey of April 19-27, 2022, the latest quarterly national survey finalized by SWS, found 43% of Filipino families rating themselves as Mahirap or Poor, 34% rating themselves as Borderline Poor (by placing themselves on a horizontal line dividing Poor and Not Poor), and 23% rating themselves as Hindi Mahirap or Not Poor.
These levels are similar to those in December 2021, when 43% felt Poor, 39% felt Borderline Poor, and 19% felt Not Poor.
The estimated numbers of Self-Rated Poor families are 10.9 million in April 2022 and 10.7 million in December 2021.
SWS has measured Self-Rated Poverty (SRP) quarterly by face-to-face (F2F) surveys ever since 1992, except in the first three quarters of 2020 when F2F was not possible for lack of public transportation during the pandemic. SWS resumed the SRP surveys in the 4th quarter of 2020, up to the present.
The steady Self-Rated Poor between December 2021 and April 2022 was due to increases in Mindanao and Metro Manila, combined with decreases in the Visayas and Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila).
Compared to December 2021, Self-Rated Poor rose in Mindanao from 43% to 60% and in Metro Manila from 25% to 32%. However, it fell in the Visayas from 59% to 48%, and in Balance Luzon from 41% to 35%.
SWS: 43% of Filipino families feel Poor
On the other hand, Borderline Poor rose in the Visayas from 33% to 46%. However, it fell in Mindanao from 48% to 33%, in Balance Luzon from 34% to 28%, and in Metro Manila from 47% to 42%.
At the same time, Not Poor rose in Balance Luzon from 25% to 37%. However, it fell in the Visayas from 8% to 6%, in Mindanao from 9% to 7%, and in Metro Manila from 28% to 26%.
On Self-Rated Food Poverty, based on the type of food eaten by their families, the April 2022 survey found 31% of families rating themselves as Food-Poor, 45% rating themselves as Borderline Food-Poor (by placing themselves on the horizontal line dividing Food-Poor and Not Food-Poor), and 24% rating themselves Not Food-Poor.
This is similar to December 2021, when 31% felt Food-Poor, 44% felt Borderline Food-Poor, and 24% felt Not Food-Poor.
The estimated number of Self-Rated Food Poor families stayed at 7.9 million from December 2021 to April 2022.
Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture (DA) issued a warning about an impending food crisis caused by the economy’s repercussions from the coronavirus pandemic, rising gasoline prices, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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