49% of Filipino families see themselves as poor in second quarter — SWS

Nearly half of Filipino families continue to view themselves as poor, based on the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results.

In its June 25 – 29 report, SWS reported that 49 percent of households still classify themselves as poor, accounting for 13.7 million families.

This marks a slight decrease from the April 2025 report, where 50% or approximately 14.1 million families were identified as poor.

At the same time, 41 percent of families labeled themselves as “not poor,” while 10 percent positioned themselves on the borderline between poor and not poor.

The report also revealed that the small national decline resulted from reduced poverty ratings in the Visayas and Balance Luzon, despite increases in Metro Manila and Mindanao areas.

Mindanao recorded the highest self-rated poverty at 69 percent, followed by Visayas at 60 percent, Balance Luzon at 38 percent, and Metro Manila at 36 percent. 

Among families who considered themselves poor, 34.8 percent said they had always been poor and had never experienced being non-poor.

Meanwhile, 7.8 percent were “newly poor,” having only fallen into poverty within the past one to four years.

Food insecurity also remains a concern, with 41 percent of families describing themselves as food-poor, a figure that has not changed since the previous survey.

On average, poor families said they need a monthly budget of at least 12,000 pesos to stop considering themselves poor.

However, many claimed they fall short of this amount by around 5,000 pesos.

According to SWS, this income gap has remained unchanged in recent quarters, indicating that families are adjusting their expectations and reducing their living standards.