According to SWS, the 7-point spike in the proportion of self-rated poor families was mainly due to 19-point rise in Mindanao, as well as increases of 5 points in Balance Luzon and 3 points in Metro Manila. SWS also reported that the minimum monthly budget that households need in order not to be classified as poor inched up from P10,000 to P15,000. Meanwhile, an estimated 8.5 million families, or 35%, consider their food as poor in the second quarter, SWS said, surging 8 points from the record-low 27% — or an estimated 6.8 million households — registered in January-March period. The latest poverty data translates to a reduction of more than five million poor individuals to 23.1 million in 2018 compared to 28.8 million in 2015. In the same report, SWS said three million families that used to be poor one to four years ago made it out of poverty as of June, while 1.2 million households have been classified as “newly poor.”

Source: Philippine Star July 20, 2019 04:52 UTC