Rowegie Abanto

A man and his children walk along the Marikina River Park on March 6, 2021. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File

A man and his children walks along the Marikina River Park on March 6, 2021. Despite reminders by barangay officials, the park was flocked by visitors, some with children, disregarding the IATF’s guidelines on prohibiting people under 15 years of age to be outside their residences under the enhanced community quarantine. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News

Article (news)

SWS: 49 percent of Filipino families 'poor'

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/175418635597220210306-covid-marikina-riverbanks-GC-8994.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" spellcheck="false" style="text-align:left">A man and his children walk along the Marikina River Park on March 6, 2021. <em>George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News/File</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA — Nearly half or 49 percent of Filipino families — around 13.7 million families — rated themselves as poor during the second quarter of the year, a Social Weather Stations <a href="https://www.sws.org.ph/swsmain/artcldisppage/?artcsyscode=ART-20250801211714">poll</a> published Friday night suggested.</p><p>The survey, which polled 1,200 adults and was conducted from June 25-29, also found that 10 percent of Filipino families considered themselves on the borderline between Poor and Not Poor, while 41 percent rated themselves as Not Poor.</p><p>The pollster noted that the 41 percent who rated themselves non-poor was just one percentage point below the &quot;record-high&quot; 42 percent in April 23-28.</p><p>Meanwhile, the 49 percent who said their families were poor in the June survey was also just one percentage point below the result in SWS&#x27;s April 23-28 poll, where 50 percent — 14.1 million — said they considered their families to be poor.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/business/2025/6/7/sws-self-rated-poor-families-fall-to-50-in-april-0030"><strong>SWS: &#x27;Self-rated poor&#x27; families fall to 50% in April</strong></a></div><p>The SWS said that the one-percentage-point decrease in the nationwide self-rated poverty was due to declines in the Visayas and Balance Luzon — or Luzon outside Metro Manila — &quot;combined with increases in Mindanao and Metro Manila.&quot;</p><p>The survey has a sampling error margin of ±3 percent.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>POVERTY &#x27;HIGHEST&#x27; IN MINDANAO</strong></div><p>In the June 25-29 survey, self-rated poverty was &quot;highest&quot; in Mindanao at 69 percent. The Visayas followed at 60 percent, Balance Luzon at 38 percent, and Metro Manila at 36 percent.</p><p>Self-rated poverty, meanwhile, fell by 7 percentage points from 67 percent in the Visayas and 5 points from 43 percent in Balance Luzon. </p><p>However, poverty rose by 8 points from 61 percent in Mindanao and 3 points from 33 percent in Metro Manila, SWS said.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/nation/2025/7/17/pulse-asia-66-pct-disapprove-of-gov-t-efforts-on-inflation-1733">Pulse Asia: 66% disapprove of gov&#x27;t efforts on inflation<br/></a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>7.8 PERCENT OF FAMILIES &#x27;NEWLY POOR&#x27;</strong></div><p>The June 2025 SWS survey also found that of the total percentage of poor families, 7.8 percent — 2.2 million — were non-poor one to four years ago, which the pollster considered &quot;newly poor.&quot;</p><p>At the same time, 6.4 percent or 1.8 million were non-poor five or more years ago or (&quot;usually poor&quot;), and 34.8 percent or 9.8 million never experienced being non-poor (&quot;always poor&quot;).</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>11.1 PERCENT &#x27;NEWLY NON-POOR&#x27;</strong></div><p>In the non-poor families, the SWS said that 11.1 percent or 3.1 million were poor one to four years ago, which it called &quot;newly non-poor.&quot;</p><p>It added that 23 percent or 6.4 million of the non-poor families were poor five or more years ago (&quot;usually non-poor&quot;), and 16.9 percent or 4.7 million never experienced being poor (&quot;always non-poor&quot;).</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>MARCOS VOWS TO BETTER FILIPINO LIVES</strong></div><p>The SWS said that self-rated poverty has been measured 151 times since April 1983. </p><p>Self-rated poverty was at 55 percent when first surveyed in April 1983 by the Development Academy of the Philippines and &quot;peaked&quot; at 74 percent in the July 1985 survey by the Bishops-Businessmen&#x27;s Conference. </p><p>In the SWS surveys from May 1986 to the present, poor Filipino families reached as high as 72 percent in February 1992 and as low as 38 percent in March 2019, it added.</p><p>While President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in his July 28 State of the Nation Address, acknowledged the &quot;improving&quot; numbers in inflation and other economic markers, he stressed that those are pointless if many Filipinos are still struggling.</p><p>He vowed to do everything in the remaining years of his presidency to make Filipino lives better.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OA3Wov1ru9k?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Nearly half or 49 percent of Filipino families — 13.7 million — rated themselves as poor during the second quarter of the year, a Social Weather Stations poll published Friday suggested.</p>

Nearly half or 49 percent of Filipino families — 13.7 million — rated themselves as poor during the second quarter of the year, a Social Weather Stations poll published Friday suggested.

SWS: 49% of Filipino families rate themselves as poor in second quarter

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SWS: 49% of Filipino families rate themselves as poor in second quarter

Rowegie Abanto,

ABS-CBN News

Published August 03, 2025 10:09 AM PHT

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Updated August 03, 2025 07:01 PM PHT

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