Self-rated poverty hits its lowest with 8.1-million Filipino families considering themselves as poor, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey results.

The nationwide survey conducted last March 19 to 22 with 2,100 respondents found 43 percent or 8.1 million Filipino households rate themselves as poor, a record last seen in March, 1987.

The recent figure is lower than the previous 46 percent or 8.5 million poor families recorded in December.

The respondents were particularly asked, “Where would you place your family in this card?” A card with words not poor, on the line, and poor were shown to the respondents.

As also shown in the March survey, 21.2 percent or four million families said they experienced involuntary hunger in the past three months. This is lower than the 24 percent recorded in the December survey.

The measure of hunger refers to involuntary suffering because the respondents answered a survey question that specifies hunger due to lack of anything to eat.

The respondents were asked, “Nitong nakaraang buwan, nangyari po ba kahit minsan na ang inyong pamilya ay nakaranas ng gutom at wala kayong makain? Kung oo, nangyari po ba yan ng minsan lang, mga ilang beses, madalas, o palagi? (Over the last month, has your family experienced hunger and you have no food to eat? If yes, did it happen once, a few times, most of the time, or often?)

The latest hunger rate is lower than the previous-record high incidence of 24 percent or 4.4 million households last December.

Meanwhile, the present percentage of Filipino families who experienced hunger is still far above the 1998-2010 average of 13.4 percent.

As SWS explained, “the reason why self-rated poverty is relatively low and at the same time hunger is relatively high is because living standards have dropped so low that many families do not rate themselves as poor even if they suffered from hunger recently.”

It said that of the four million families who said they had experienced hunger in the past three months, only 2.6 million considered themselves poor.

The survey also showed that self-rated poverty slightly declined due to a 16-point drop in Mindanao to a record low of 39 percent.

However, it remained at 38 percent in Metro Manila and 43 percent in the Balance Luzon.

A two-percentage point increase was noted in the Visayas with 52 percent.

In rural areas, self-rated poverty declined by by 13 percentage points bringing the percentage of poor Filipinos to a new record low of 45 percent, while a three-point (41 percent) increase was noted in the urban areas.

SWS also found the lowest percentage of self-rated food poverty with 31 percent of Filipinos families or 5.9 million households, lower than the previous low of 35 percent registered in June,2004.

Self-rated food poverty went down by 16 points in Mindanao to 32 percent, seven points in the Balance Luzon to 29 percent and by two points each in the Visayas and Metro Manila to 39 percent and 28 percent, respectively.

According to SWS, overall decline in hunger can be attributed to a drop in both moderate and severe hunger.

With regard to geographic areas, overall hunger decreased by almost 10 points in Metro Manila to 17.3 percent (432,000 families) from 27 percent (665,000 families).

It also went down by almost seven points in the Visayas to 21.2 percent (800,000 families) from 27.9 percent (one million families).

Meanwhile, it barely changed in Mindanao at 24 percent (one million families) from 24.5 percent and in the Balance of Luzon to 20.9 percent (1.7 million families) from 21.2 percent.

Last Monday, Malacañang was elated over the latest survey showing a decrease in the number of Filipino families who feel poor, citing that people are starting to feel the benefits of the government’s fiscal reforms.

While the Palace took credit for the record low self-rated poverty, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar also declared the President’s legacy could be further fairly evaluated when the campaign mudslinging has ended.

The results of the SWS that showed 43 percent or 8.1 million families rating themselves as poor depicted an “objective reality” as compared to the “subjective perceptions” of an earlier poll that claimed the President’s falling popularity, according to Olivar. (with a report by Genalyn Kabiling)