More Filipinos rate themselves as 'food poor'

Self-rated poverty for the third quarter of 2014 remained at 55 per cent, the same in June, the survey, first published in BusinessWorld, showed.

Conducted from September 26 to 29 among 1,200 respondents, it posted a slight increase when it comes to families who said they eat food for the poor. Around 9.3 million families or 43 per cent of respondents said they were “food poor”, from only 41 per cent in the second quarter of the year.

While self-rated poverty fell by 10 points (from 71 per cent in June to 61 per cent in September) in Mindanao and by nine points (from 74 per cent to 65 per cent) in Visayas, it increased by six points (from 37 per cent to 43 per cent) in Metro Manila and by seven points (from 45 per cent to 52 per cent) for the rest of Luzon.

This also reflected in self-rated food poverty, which increased by three points (from 27 per cent to 30 per cent) in Metro Manila and 5 per cent (from 32 per cent to 37 per cent) in Balance Luzon. Food-poor families remained almost the same for Visayas, down by one point (from 54 per cent to 53 per cent). Mindanao’s self-rated poverty, on the other hand, decreased by three points from 55 per cent in June to 52 per cent in September.

SWS said the monthly budget needed for a family not to be considered poor has increased in Metro Manila (from a median of Bt12,000 in June to Bt15,000 in September). It dropped in Visayas (from Bt10,000 in March to Bt8,000 in September) but stayed at Bt10,000 for both Mindanao and Balance Luzon.