MANILA, Philippines — The number of Filipino families that considered themselves poor and food-poor rose in June after reaching lowest levels in the first quarter, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed. ADVERTISEMENTThe seven-point rise translates to a 1.6-million increase in households who see themselves as poor, as self-rated poverty climbed in most areas especially in Mindanao. Prior to the latest survey, self-rated poverty declined by 14 points over three quarters while self-rated food poverty dropped by 9 points between September 2018 and March 2019. In Mindanao, self-rated poverty rose by 19 points from the record-low 37 percent in March to 56 percent in June. The median self-rated food poverty threshold, which is the monthly food budget that food-poor households need in order not to consider their food poor, rose from P5,000 in March to P6,000 in June, while the self-rated food poverty gap, the amount food-poor families lack in monthly expenses relative to their stated threshold is unchanged at P3,000.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer July 20, 2019 21:56 UTC