MANILA – The number of Filipinos who say they experienced involuntary hunger rose to 15.9% or an estimated 3.6 million families in the last quarter of 2017, according to a Social Weather Stations survey.
The number is higher by 4.1 points over the 11.8% (estimated 2.7 million families) registered in the quarterly Hunger survey in September 2017, and is the highest recorded value for hunger since the 17.2% in December 2014, SWS said.
The Fourth Quarter 2017 Social Weather Survey was conducted from December 8-16, 2017, and asked families if they experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months. The measure of Hunger refers to involuntary suffering because the respondents answer a survey question that specifies hunger due to lack of food to eat, the pollster explained.
SWS pointed out that while the 15.9 percent has the highest recorded value for hunger since December 2014, the average Hunger rate was just 12.3% for all quarters of 2017, or 1 point below the 13.3% in 2016. “This is the lowest annual average Hunger rate since 11.8% in 2004, due to the near record-low 9.5% in June 2017,” SWS said on its website.
The 15.9% quarterly Hunger in December 2017 is the sum of 12.2% (est. 2.8 million families) who experienced Moderate Hunger and 3.7% (est. 841,000 families) who experienced Severe Hunger.
Moderate Hunger refers to those who experienced hunger “Only Once” or “A Few Times” in the last three months, while Severe Hunger refers to those who experienced it “Often” or “Always” in the last three months.
The few who did not state their frequency of hunger were classified under Moderate Hunger.
Moderate Hunger rose by 2.6 points, from 9.6% in September to 12.2% in December. This is the highest since the 13.2% in June 2016.
Severe Hunger rose by 1.6 points, from 2.1% in September to 3.7% in December. This is the highest since the 4.1% in December 2014.
HUNGER ROSE FOR 2 CONSECUTIVE QUARTERS
According to SWS, both Moderate Hunger and Severe Hunger have been increasing for the past two quarters (“Third Quarter 2017 Social Weather Survey: Hunger among families rises to 11.8%; Moderate Hunger 9.6%, Severe Hunger 2.1%,” 6 December 2017). It worsened by a total of 6.4 points over two consecutive quarters, from the near record-low 9.5% in June 2017 to 15.9% in December 2017. Prior to this it had been decreasing for two consecutive quarters, from 13.9% in December 2016 to 9.5% in June 2017.
The survey question on Hunger is as follows: “Nitong nakaraang tatlong buwan, nangyari po ba kahit minsan na ang inyong pamilya ay nakaranas ng gutom at wala kayong makain? (OO, HINDI)” [“In the last 3 months, did it happen even once that your family experienced hunger and not have anything to eat? (YES, NO)”].
Those who experienced Hunger were further asked: “Nangyari po ba ‘yan ng MINSAN LAMANG, MGA ILANG BESES, MADALAS, o PALAGI?” [“Did it happen ONLY ONCE, A FEW TIMES, OFTEN, or ALWAYS?”].
Moderate Hunger refers to those who experienced hunger “Only Once” or “A Few Times” in the last three months, while Severe Hunger refers to those who experienced it “Often” or “Always” in the last three months.
RISING IN ALL AREAS
The quarterly Hunger rate of 15.9% consisted of Hunger in Metro Manila at 14.7% (est. 457,000 families), Balance Luzon at 17.7% (est. 1.8 million families), the Visayas at 13.3% (est. 589,000 families), and Mindanao at 15.3% (est. 802,000 families)
Quarterly Hunger rose by 3.0 points in Metro Manila, from 11.7% (est. 364,000 families) in September 2017 to 14.7% in December 2017.
Still, this gives Metro Manila an average Hunger rate of 12.4% for 2017, 0.4 points below the 12.8% in 2016. This is the lowest since the 8.8% in 2004.
Moderate Hunger in Metro Manila rose by 0.7 points, from 9.3% in September to 10.0% in December. Severe Hunger in Metro Manila also rose by 2.4 points, from 2.3% in September to 4.7% in December.
Quarterly Hunger rose by 3.9 points in Balance Luzon, from in 13.8% (est. 1.4 million families) in September to 17.7% in December.
Still, this gives Balance Luzon an average Hunger rate of 12.8% for 2017, 0.8 points below the 13.6% in 2016. It was 12.4% in 2015.
Moderate Hunger in Balance Luzon rose by 1.5 points, from 11.2% in September to 12.7% in December. Severe Hunger in Balance Luzon also rose by 2.3 points, from 2.7% in September to 5.0% in December.
Quarterly Hunger rose by 3.6 points in the Visayas (est, 427,000 families), from 9.7% in September to 13.3% in December.
Still, this gives the Visayas an average Hunger rate of 11.4% for 2017, 2.6 points below the 13.9% in 2016. It was 10.8% in 2015.
Moderate Hunger in the Visayas rose by 4.0 points, from 8.7% in September to 12.7% in December. However, severe Hunger fell by 0.3 points, from 1.0% in September to 0.7% in December.
Quarterly Hunger rose by 5.6 points in Mindanao, from 9.7% (est. 506,000 families) in September to 15.3% in December.
Still, this gives Mindanao an average Hunger rate of 12.0% for 2017, 0.7 points below the 12.7% in 2016. This is the lowest since the 6.6% in 2003.
Moderate Hunger in Mindanao rose by 4.6 points, from 7.7% in September to 12.3% in December. Severe Hunger also rose by 1 point, from 2.0% in September to 3.0% in December.
HUNGER RISES DESPITE DROP IN SELF-RATED POVERTY
The 4.1-point rise in the quarterly Hunger rate amid the 3-point decrease in Self-Rated Poverty (“Fourth Quarter 2017 Social Weather Survey: Families Self-Rated as Poor decrease to 44%; Food-Poor families steady at 32%,” 16 January 2018) between September 2017 and December 2017 was due to an increase in the incidence of Hunger among both the Self-Rated Poor and Self-Rated Non-Poor. This shows that Hunger is not a fixed proportion of the Self-Rated Poor; while there are fewer Self-Rated Poor families, the incidence of hunger among them has worsened.
From September to December, quarterly Hunger (i.e., Moderate plus Severe) rose by 8.2 points among the Self-Rated Poor, from 16.7% in September to 24.9% in December. This is the highest recorded value since March 2015. It also rose by 1.5 points among the Non-poor (Not Poor plus Borderline) over the same period, going from 7.4% to 8.9. Prior to the rise in September 2017, both values had been declining since December 2016.
Hunger also rose among the Self-Rated Food Poor, going up by 9.0 points from 19.8% in September to 28.8% in December. It rose by 1.9 points among the Not Food-Poor/Food-Borderline, from 8.0% to 9.9%.
At any one point in time, quarterly Hunger among the Self-Rated Food-Poor is always greater than Hunger among the Self-Rated Poor.
The Fourth Quarter 2017 Social Weather Survey was conducted from December 8-16, 2017 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide: 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao (sampling error margins of ±2.5% for national percentages, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao).
Annual Hunger rates, or the annual averages, have a sampling error margin of ±1.5%.
The area estimates were weighted by Philippine Statistics Authority medium-population projections for 2017 to obtain the national estimates.
The SWS survey questions about the family’s experience of hunger are directed to the household head. These items are non-commissioned, and are always included on SWS’s own initiative and released as a public service.
SWS employs its own staff for questionnaire design, sampling, fieldwork, data-processing, and analysis, and does not outsource any of its survey operations. This report was prepared by Antonia Beatrice D. Lee, with special tabulations made by Joanne C. Evangelista.