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MANILA, Philippines — Filipino families say they now need at least P12,000 monthly to stay out of poverty, with those in Metro Manila placing the threshold even higher at P20,000, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.
The Self-Rated Poverty Threshold, or the minimum monthly budget that families say they need for home expenses not to consider themselves poor, rose for the first time this year to P12,000, up from P10,000 last quarter. The increase reflects the persistent rise in food, transport and utility costs.
Despite this adjustment, SWS noted that poverty thresholds have remained sluggish over time, suggesting that families have been lowering their standards and tightening their belts just to cope with the economic strain.
The nationwide survey, conducted from June 25 to 29, also found that 49% of Filipino families still consider themselves poor, slightly lower than the 50% recorded in April, but still equivalent to around 13.7 million households.
Poverty, food insecurity persist
Broken down by region, Mindanao had the highest proportion of families rating themselves as poor at 69%, an 8-point jump from April. The Visayas followed at 60%, then Balance Luzon at 38%, and Metro Manila at 36%.
The number of families who said they were “not poor” fell in most areas except in the Visayas, where it rose from 24% to 28%.
It declined to 57% in Metro Manila (from 60%) and to 21% in Mindanao (from 29%), while remaining steady in Balance Luzon at 52%.
Food poverty also remains widespread. The June survey found 41% of families considered themselves food-poor, the same level as in April.
Mindanao again led with the highest incidence at 60%, followed by the Visayas (44%), Balance Luzon (34%) and Metro Manila (31%).
The percentage of families who considered themselves not food-poor slightly declined to 49%, while those on the food-poverty borderline rose to 10%, up from 7%.
Spending, cost-of-living breakdown
To keep up with essential living expenses, the average Filipino family now spends:
- P3,000 monthly for rent
- P2,000 for transportation to work or school
- P800 for internet connection
- P300 for mobile phone load
Families in Metro Manila reported the highest monthly internet cost at P1,000 and phone load at P420, while those in Mindanao had the lowest, spending only P350 and P200, respectively.
Compared to April, internet costs declined in Metro Manila and Mindanao but rose in the Visayas.
Meanwhile, phone load expenses dropped in Mindanao but remained steady or slightly increased in other areas.
Who are the 'newly poor'?
The June data also showed that 7.8% of poor families, or about 2.2 million households, had been non-poor just one to four years ago, classifying them as “newly poor.”
Meanwhile, 6.4% had been non-poor five or more years ago and 34.8% said they had never experienced being out of poverty.
Among those who now consider themselves not poor, 11.1% said they had escaped poverty only in the last four years.
Methodology
The survey interviewed 1,200 adult respondents across Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, with national margins of error at ±3%.
SWS has been conducting its Self-Rated Poverty survey since 1983, making it one of the country’s longest-running barometers of household economic sentiment.
