An estimated 12.2 million Filipino families felt “poor” in the second quarter of 2022, according to the latest survey done by pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS).
The figure points to an increase from the 10.9 million Filipino families who felt “poor” during the first quarter of the year, survey results show.
The survey, which was conducted from June 26 to 29, found that 48 percent of families felt “poor,” while 31 percent categorized themselves as “borderline poor.”
At least 21 percent considered themselves “not poor.”
The national Social Weather Survey was the last done under the administration of former president Rodrigo Duterte.
Compared to April 2022, the percentage of “Poor” families rose from 43 percent, while “Borderline” families fell from 34 percent, and “Not Poor” families declined from 23 percent.
The estimated numbers of “Self-Rated Poor” families are 12.2 million in June 2022 and 10.9 million in April 2022.
SWS has measured “Self-Rated Poverty” quarterly by face-to-face surveys since 1992, except in the first three quarters of 2020 when F2F was not possible for lack of public transportation during the pandemic.
The June 2022 survey asked the “Self-Rated Poor” if they ever experienced being non-poor (either not poor or borderline) in the past. The total percentage of poor families consists of 8.8 percent who were non-poor 1-4 years ago (“Newly Poor”), 6.1 percent who were non-poor five or more years ago (“Usually Poor”), and 33.0 percent who never experienced being non-poor (“Always Poor”).
Of the estimated 12.2 million “Self-Rated Poor” families in June 2022, 2.2 million were “Newly Poor,” 1.6 million were “Usually Poor,” and 8.4 million were “Always Poor.”