Self-rated poverty in December 2024 highest in two decades - SWS

Metro Manila, Philippines - Close to two-thirds of Filipino families rated themselves “poor” in December 2024, the highest in two decades, according to the Social Weather Stations on Wednesday, Jan. 8.

The 63 percent self-rated poverty was four points higher than the last survey in September, and the third consecutive increase since 46% in March.

Using projections from the Philippine Statistics Authority, the SWS said 17.4 million families rated themselves as “poor” in December, higher than 16.3 million in September.

The SWS said self-rated poverty rose in the Visayas and Mindanao at 76% and 74%, respectively, while steady in Balance Luzon (55%) and Metro Manila (51%).

In November 2003, 64% of Filipino households said they were poor.

“The resulting 2024 annual average self-rated poor families of 57% was 9 points above the annual average of 48% in 2023 and 2022,” the SWS said.

The pollster noted that the national median self-rated poverty threshold (SRP threshold) fell for two consecutive quarters from P15,000 in June 2024, P12,000 in September 2024, and P10,000 in December 2024.

“The SRP threshold, or the minimum monthly budget self-rated poor families say they need for home expenses in order not to consider themselves poor, has remained sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation,” it explained.

“This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards, i.e., belt-tightening,” the survey said.

Self-rated food poverty also went up five percentage points to 51% in December from 46% three months prior.

The SWS employed face-to-face interviews of 2,160 adults nationwide from Dec. 12 to 18.

The pollster asked: “Saan po ninyo ilalagay ang inyong pamilya sa kard na ito? [Where would you place your family in this card?]”

“Half of the respondents are shown a card with the choices HINDI MAHIRAP (Not poor) and MAHIRAP (Poor), separated by a line (recorded as Borderline), while the other half are shown a card containing the reverse order (negative showcard), to lessen response bias,” it added.

The sampling error margins are ±2% for national percentages, ±3% in Balance Luzon, and ±5% each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.