SWS: Self-rated poverty declines in last three months of 2017

FILE: Informal settlers in Metro Manila (Saiko3p / Shutterstock)

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino families considering themselves as poor slightly declined in the last three months of 2017, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

The Fourth Quarter of 2017 SWS survey revealed that 44% or 10.0 million families rated themselves as poor, three points below the 47% or 10.9 million families in September 2017.

The results give an average Self-Rated Poverty (SRP) of 46% for last year, two points short of the record-low average 44% of 2016.

SWS attributed the three-point decline in the nationwide self-rated poverty in the fourth quarter of 2017 to the sharp decrease in Balance Luzon, slight decline in Metro Manila and Visayas, balance by an increase in Mindanao.

SRP in Balance Luzon decline by 10 points from 50% in September 2017 to 40% in the last three months of last year, giving the region an average SRP of 43% for 2017 which is three points higher than 40% in 2016.

For 2017, the SRP in Metro Manila decreased by 3 points from 31% in September to 28% in December, posting a record-low average of 31% for 2017.

SRP also decreased by 3 points in the Visayas, from 56% in September to 53% in December, giving an average SRP of 58% for 2017.

However, SRP increased by 7 points in Mindanao, from 45% in September to 52% in December. This gives Mindanao an average SRP of 52% for 2017, 1 point above the 51% in 2016.

The survey also revealed that families rating the food they eat as poor, termed by the SWS as ‘food poor,’ was fixed at 32 percent or an estimated 7.3 million.

This result gave posed an average self-rated food poverty of 33 percent for last year, two points above the record-low 31 percent in 2016

SWS conducted the survey from December 8-16, 2017 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide with sampling error margins of ±2.5% for national percentages, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.