More than half of Filipinos surveyed say they’re poor – and hungry. The good news is that house rent remained calm, although transportation, internet and cellphone load expenses rose, the latest SWS survey shows.
In numbers, that’s 16 million Filipino families consider themselves poor, and 12.8 million families say they are hungry, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
To be fair, there are glowing economic outlooks for the country. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) sees a 6 percent growth for 2024 and 6.2 percent for 2025.
According to the Asian Development Outlook for July 2024, domestic demand, along with a recovery in merchandise exports, drove the 5.7 percent GDP growth in Q1 2024.
The Outlook, the ADB’s main economic forecasting product released this month, sees electronic products driving Philippine growth. Electronics, about 60 percent of total exports, has rebounded, it said.
Moderating inflation and expected monetary easing in the second half of 2024 will support household consumption and investment. Household consumption growth, while below last year’s level, remained the main contributor supported by low unemployment and remittances from overseas workers.
Brisk public infrastructure spending continued to lift growth. Services exports remained buoyant, including tourism and business process outsourcing.
In stark contrast, the SWS survey shows the estimated numbers of self-rated poor families were 16 million in June, up from 12.9 million in March 2024. It was the highest number of families feeling poor since a similar survey was conducted in 2008.
Mind you, a survey is just that. The figures never represent the whole country. The nationwide face-to-face survey conducted by the SWS covered just 1,500 adults (18 years old and above). It was conducted on June 23-July 1, 2024. Nevertheless, the results made public on July 18 are important economic indicators.
The survey showed that 58 percent self-rated poor families were 12 points above the 46 percent last March 2024 and the highest since the 59 percent posted in June 2008, the SWS said.
Based on the type of food eaten by the families, the survey found nearly half or 46 percent of families rating themselves as “food-poor”.
That’s about 12.8 million families in June 2024, an increase over the 9.3 million families in March 2024.
The numbers were 13 points above the 33 percent in March 2024, and the highest since 49 percent in June 2008, the SWS said.
Six of the 10 families who said they were hungry were in Mindanao, at 61 percent the highest in the country.
Compared to March, the number of those who felt hungry rose in Luzon and Mindanao. On the other hand, about four in 10 families or 39 percent considered themselves sufficient in food.
At the same time, those who felt they were sufficient food-wide rose by 15 points in Metro Manila from 41 percent in March 2024 to 56 percent in June 2024, 15 points in the Visayas from 19 percent to 34 percent, and 14 points in Mindanao from 12 percent to 26 percent. It hardly moved in the rest of Luzon, from 42 percent to 43 percent.
In the last 10 quarters, the national median Self-Rated Poverty Threshold (SRP Threshold) stayed at P15,000, while the national median Self-Rated Poverty Gap (SRP Gap) rose from P5,000 in March 2024 to P6,000 in June.
The SRP Threshold is the minimum monthly budget self-rated poor families say they need for home expenses in order not to consider themselves poor. It has remained sluggish for several years despite considerable inflation, the SWS said.
This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards or were tightening their belts, the SWS said.
The good news is that the June 2024 survey found the median monthly family expenses for house rent at P3,000, transportation to work and school at P2,000, internet at P900, and mobile phone load at P360.
Compared to September 2023, the median monthly family expense for house rent stayed at P3,000. However, the expenses rose for transportation to work and school was up from P1,500, Internet from P800, and mobile phone load from P200.
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