Nearly half of Filipino families consider themselves poor in June, an increase from two months prior as hotter than forecast inflation pushed commodity prices higher, according to an SWS poll.
Some 48% of 1,500 adults representing the country's roughly 12.2 million families rated themselves as poor while 31% rated themselves as borderline poor, and 21% viewed themselves as not poor, according to the June 26-29 study.
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Filipino families who rated themselves as poor increased by five percentage points to 48% from 43% in April, Social Weather Stations said.
Of the 12.2 million families who said they were poor, 2.2 million were "newly poor" which means that they did not consider themselves to be below the poverty threshold one to four years ago.
The remaining 8.6 million families viewed themselves as "always poor" while the 1.6 million families were "usually poor."
The survey also showed that self-rated poverty increased in all areas of the Philippines, with the highest jumps reported in Visayas and Metro Manila based on survey results.
Those who viewed themselves as poor rose to 64% in Visayas from 48% in April, while Metro Manila figures increased to 41% from 32%.
Minimum household budget needed
Despite soaring prices of goods, SWS said the national average minimum household budget that poor families said they need in order to consider themselves "not poor" remained at P15,000 like in April.
"This indicates that poor families have been lowering their living standards, i.e., belt-tightening," SWS said.
Some 1,500 adults were interviewed nationwide for the survey, which has a margin of error of ±2.5% for national percentages.
The poll, conducted just before President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. assumed office, was done in the same month when inflation quickened to 6.1% and fuel prices soared to nearly P100 per liter.
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