Less Filipino Families Experienced Hunger In The First Quarter Of 2018—SWS

3 min read By eCompareMo on May 3, 2018

The number of Filipino families experiencing involuntary hunger dropped in the first quarter of 2018, according to a recent survey by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The survey, released on April 30, finds 9.9% of the population declaring they suffered hunger at least once in the first quarter of 2018. This comes to around 2.3 million families, 6% lower than the 15.9% hunger rate recorded in December 2017.

How much do Filipinos need to survive?

Self-Rated Poverty Threshold (SRPT) is the minimum amount that poor families need to sustain for essential expenditures in order not to be considered poor. In the survey, people answered the question: “Upang hindi na masabing mahirap kayo, magkano sa palagay ninyo ang pinakamababang panggastos (n) sa bahay sa isang buwan na kailangan ng inyong pamilya? Hindi po kasama ang mga gastusin na may kinalaman sa trabaho tulad ng pamasahe.”

(In your opinion, how much money would your family need for home expenses each month in order to not be called poor anymore? This doesn’t include work-related expenses like transportation.)

Self-Rated Poverty Gap (SRPG), on the other hand, is the amount lacking in their minimum monthly budget. To arrive at the numbers, SWS asked this question: “Sinabi po ninyo na P(n) ang pinakamababang panggastos sa bahay sa isang buwan na kailangan ng inyong pamilya upang hindi na masabing mahirap kayo. Magkano pa po ba ang kulang ninyo sa ngayon?”

(Read: World Bank Says The Philippine Economy Is At Risk Of ‘Overheating.’ What Does It Mean For You?)

(You said that P [amount mentioned] is the amount of money that your family would need for home expenses each month in order to not be called poor anymore. How much DO YOU LACK now?)

Below are the median SRPTs and SRPGs by region for March 2018.

In general, the monthly budget that a poor household needs for an adequate home sustenance is pegged at P13,000.

How much do Filipinos need to eat amply?

Self-Rated Food Poverty Threshold (SRFPT) is the minimum amount of monthly food budget families need. SWS asked this question: “Upang hindi na masabing mahirap kayo, batay sa pagkain, magkano sa palagay ninyo ang pinakamababang panggastos sa pagkain sa isang buwan na kailangan ng inyong pamilya?”

(In your opinion, how much money would your family need for food expenses each month in order to not be called poor anymore in terms of food?)

Self-Rated Food Poverty Gap (SRFPG), on the other hand, measures the amount they lack in order not to consider their food as poor. To gather data, SWS asked this question: “Sinabi po ninyo na P(n) ang pinakamababang panggastos sa pagkain sa isang buwan na kailangan ng inyong pamilya upang hindi na masabing mahirap kayo batay sa pagkain. Magkano pa po ba ang kulang ninyo sa ngayon?”

(You said that P[amount mentioned] is the amount of money that your family would need for food expenses each month in order not to be called poor anymore in terms of food. How much DO YOU LACK now?)

Below are the median SRFPTs and SRFPGs by region for March 2018.

The national median Self-Rated Food Poverty Threshold is still at P6,000, while the national median Self-Rated Food Poverty Gap is also at P3,000.

(Read: How Has The Filipino ‘Quality Of Life’ Improved In The Last 33 Years?)

For the record, numbers have been below 15% since the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte. The findings also revealed that the data has been the lowest at 9.5% in June 2017, which spiked before the incumbent leader assumed his term.

“This is the first time for Self-Rated Food Poverty to be below 30%,” the SWS declared.

According to SWS, the first quarter of 2018 March is the second time that self-rated hunger has been single digit since March 2004’s 7.4%.

Severe hunger, defined as frequent experiences of hunger, also depreciated 2.4 points from December 2017 and are currently down to 1.3% which is equivalent to 306,000 families.

The table below shows that the hunger levels per region has been reduced since the previous survey in December 2017

(Note from SWS: The first quarter poll was conducted using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults. It has a sampling error margin of ±3% for national percentages, ±6% each for Metro Manila, balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.)

Sources: The Philippine Daily Inquirer, The Philippine Star, Rappler, The Social Weather Station