ABOUT 9.7 million or 53 percent of Filipino families consider themselves poor.
The self-rated poverty rate in the Sept. 18-21 survey of the Social Weather Stations is three points up from the 50 percent it recorded in June.
The most recent survey also found that 41 percent of Filipino families consider themselves as “food-poor,” up from 36 percent in February.
According to the SWS, self-rated poverty declined from 62 percent in June to 57 percent in Mindanao, but rose from 44 percent to 51 percent in Luzon and from 56 percent to 60 percent in the Visayas. It barely changed in Metro Manila, from 42 percent in June to 41 percent in September, the SWS said.
The self-rated food poverty also declined in Mindanao, but rose in other parts of the country.
The self-rated poverty threshold, or the monthly budget that poor households need so as not to consider themselves poor, remains sluggish despite inflation. This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards or belt-tightening, according to the SWS.
The median poverty threshold for poor households rose to P15,000 in Metro Manila, and to P10,000 in Balance Luzon. Both amounts, however, have been reached several times in the past in those areas.
The median poverty thresholds of poor households stayed at P5,000 for those in Mindanao, while it declined from P8,000 to P5,000 in the Visayas. In both areas, median poverty thresholds had reached P10,000 in the past.
The median food-poverty thresholds for poor households also rose from P5,000 to P6,500 in Metro Manilaand from P3,000 to P5,000 in Balance Luzon. It stayed at 3,000 in Mindanao, and declined to P3,000 in the Visayas.
The SWS said the median poverty threshold of P15,000 in Metro Manila is barely above P10,000 as in 2000, even though the Consumer Price Index has risen there by over 57 percent since.
Metro Manila’s median poverty threshold for September is equivalent to only P9,536 in base year 2000 purchasing power, after deflation by the CPI. The deflated poverty threshold for the capital region is similar to living standards of over 10 years ago.
On the other hand, median food poverty threshold of P6,500 in Metro Manila is equivalent to only P4,257 in base year 2000 purchasing power for food.
The nationwide survey polled 1,800 adults and has a sampling error margin of ±2.3 percent for national percentages, ±6 percent for Metro Manila and Mindanao, and ±4 percent for Balance Luzon and the Visayas.