The Social Weather Stations recently released its latest findings. Except for the capital, more households rate themselves as poor, especially in the south of the country, with an increase of almost two million households in five years. The Always Poor number 9.7 million.
Manila (AsiaNews) – A new survey suggests that the perception of poverty is rising among Filipinos and that differences persist across geographical areas.
The poll was conducted by Social Weather Stations, a nonprofit social research organisation that has been monitored social trends in Philippine society for almost 40 years.
Its findings clearly indicate that, despite economic development, many Filipinos have little faith in the future as they see things getting worse.
About 48 per cent of respondents (which translates into 13.2 million households) consider themselves poor, that is up by 3 per cent (or 700,000 households) over June.
Households who consider themselves not poor are now 26 per cent, up by three percentage points, while borderlines households are 33 per cent, up by 6 per cent over the previous poll.
When self-rating, almost two million households described themselves as Newly Poor compared to five years ago, while 9.7 million were Always Poor, this in a country of 114 million. This points to the real limits of economic growth in terms of incomes, services and employment.
The poll, which was conducted between 28 September and 1 October, found wide regional differences, with perceived poverty rising outside the provinces bordering Metro Manila, where perceived poverty dropped from 39 to 35 per cent.
The South remains at the bottom of the well-being ranking, with a perception of poverty that jumped from 54 to 71 per cent in just three months.
Although the survey was based on a small sample, its results are significant at the national level, and leaves little room for errors and interpretations.
On the whole, the survey shows a growing sense of disillusionment and a widening gap between promises, possibilities, and the real situation.