The national Social Weather Survey (SWS) of April 28-May 2, 2021, found only 17% of Filipino families rating themselves as Hindi Mahirap or Not Poor, 49% rating themselves as Mahirap or Poor, and 33% placing themselves on the borderline dividing the two categories (recorded by SWS as Borderline Poor).
This is similar to the findings in November 2020 when only 16% felt Not Poor, 48% felt Poor, and 36% felt Borderline Poor.
Not Poor decline in Metro Manila
In Metro Manila, the Self-Rated Not Poor, Borderline-Poor, and Poor are 30%, 31%, and 39%, respectively, in May 2021 compared to 42%, 14%, and 45%, in November 2020. Metro Manila is the only area where the proportion of families feeling Not Poor fell. The proportion feeling Borderline Poor rose (from 14% to 31%), along with a decline in both the proportions feeling Not Poor and feeling Poor.
In Luzon outside Metro Manila, the Self-Rated Poor, Borderline Poor, and Not Poor are 45%, 31%, and 24%, respectively, in May 2021 compared to 42%, 39%, and 20% in November 2020.
In the Visayas, the Self-Rated Poor, Borderline Poor, and Not Poor are 56%, 39%, and 5%, respectively, in May 2021 compared to 60%, 35%, and 6% in November 2020.
In Mindanao, the Self-Rated Poor, Borderline Poor, and Not Poor are 59%, 35%, and 6%, respectively, in May 2021 compared to 54%, 43%, and 3% in November 2020.
SWS: 49 percent of Filipinos ‘feel poor’
The Food-Poor are 32%, the Non-Food-Poor are 23%, and the Borderline Food-Poor are 45%
On Self-Rated Food Poverty (SRFP), the May 2021 survey found 32% of families rating themselves as Food-Poor, 23% rating themselves Not Food-Poor, and 45% placing themselves on the borderline dividing the two categories (recorded by SWS as Borderline Food-Poor).
This is also similar to the findings in November 2020 when 31% felt Food-Poor, 22% felt Not Food-Poor, and 47% felt Borderline Food-Poor.
9.4% of families are “newly poor”
The May 2021 SWS 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 9.4% who were non-poor 1-4 years ago (“Newly Poor”), 4.9% who were non-poor five or more years ago (“Usually Poor”), and 34.9% who never experienced being non-poor (“Always Poor”).
Of the estimated 12.4 million Poor families in May 2021, 2.4 million were Newly Poor, 1.2 million were Usually Poor, and 8.8 million were Always Poor.
Conversely, the survey asked those who were self-rated non-poor (either not poor or borderline) if they ever experienced being poor in the past. The total percentage of non-poor families consists of 15.8% who were poor 1-4 years ago (“Newly Non-Poor”), 9.4% who were poor five or more years ago (“Usually Non-Poor”), and 24.7% who never experienced being poor (“Always Non-Poor”).
Of the estimated 12.8 million Non-Poor families in May 2021, 4.0 million were Newly Non-Poor, 2.4 million were Usually Non-Poor, and 6.2 million were Always Non-Poor.
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