The national Social Weather Survey of December 10-14, 2022, 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.
Compared to October 2022, the percentage of Poor families rose slightly from 49%, while Borderline families rose slightly from 29%, and Not Poor families fell slightly from 21%.
The estimated numbers of Self-Rated Poor families are 12.9 million in December 2022 and 12.6 million in October 2022.
The 2-point rise in the nationwide Self-Rated Poor between October 2022 and December 2022 was due to an increase in Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila), combined with decreases in Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao [Charts 3–4, Table 2].
Compared to October 2022, Self-Rated Poor rose in Balance Luzon from 36% to 49%. However, it fell in Metro Manila from 44% to 32%, in the Visayas from 68% to 58%, and in Mindanao from 64% to 59%.
On the other hand, Borderline rose in the Visayas from 21% to 34%, in Metro Manila from 23% to 29%, and in Mindanao from 28% to 30%. It fell in Balance Luzon from 35% to 30%.
At the same time, SWS reported Not Poor rose in Metro Manila from 33% to 39% and in Mindanao from 8% to 11%. It fell in Balance Luzon from 29% to 20% and in the Visayas from 11% to 9%.
SWS: 51% of Filipino families feel Poor
On Self-Rated Food Poverty, based on the type of food eaten by their families, the December 2022 survey found 34% of families rating themselves as Food-Poor, 38% rating themselves as Food Borderline (by placing themselves on the horizontal line dividing Food-Poor and Not Food-Poor), and 28% rating themselves Not Food-Poor.
Compared to October 2022, the percentages of Food-Poor families, Food Borderline families, and Not Food-Poor families did not change.
The estimated numbers of Self-Rated Food Poor families are 8.7 million in both December 2022 and October 2022.
The steady Self-Rated Food-Poor percentage from October 2022 to December 2022 was due to an increase in Balance Luzon, combined with decreases in Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
Compared to October 2022, SWS reported Self-Rated Food-Poor rose in Balance Luzon from 22% to 28%. However, it fell in Metro Manila from 33% to 29%, in the Visayas from 44% to 38%, and in Mindanao from 50% to 45%.
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