Filipino families see themselves as poor rise to 13 Million – SWS

Survey firm the Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed that around 12.9 million or about 51% of Filipino families or households consider themselves poor,

The survey was released on Thursday, January 12.

The latest SWS survey said that compared to October last, the number of self-rated poor families rose from 12.6 million.

Moreover, the 2022 4^th quarter poll also revealed that 31% of families rated themselves as “borderline” or in the middle, while 19% felt they were not poor.

SWS also said that out of the 12.9 million “poor” families, 8% were non-poor, one to four years ago, and 5.8% were non-poor five or more years ago.

“In the last four quarters, the national median Self-Rated Poverty Threshold (minimum monthly budget) stayed at ₱15,000, while the national median Self-Rated Poverty Gap fell from ₱6,000 in October 2022 to ₱5,000 in December 2022,” the SWS added.

The survey was conducted from Dec. 10 to 14 last year, through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults.