SWS: 7.6 M Filipino Households Experienced Hunger in past 3 Months

According to the September 17-20, 2020 National Mobile Survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS), an estimated 7.6 Million Filipino households, or 30.7 percent have experienced involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months.

“The proportion of families experiencing involuntary hunger – hunger due to lack of food to eat – at least once in the past three months reached a new record-high of 30.7% or an estimated 7.6 million households.”

-SWS

Furthermore, according to the survey, the involuntary hunger was due to lack of food to eat. And, since May 2020, the hunger trend has been rising upsetting a previous favorable trend when Hunger steadily declined from 23.8 percent in March 2012 to 8.8% in December 2019.

Also, in the survey, they added that “Hunger in September 2020 was up by 9.8 points from 20.9% in July 2020, by 14.0 points from 16.7% in May 2020, and by a total of 21.9 points from 8.8% in December 2019.”

The SWS September 17-20, 2020 National Mobile Phone Survey was a probability-based survey conducted using a mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) of:

• 1,249 adult Filipinos (18 years old and above) Nationwide
  • 309 in Metro Manila
  • 328 in Balance Luzon
  • 300 in the Visayas
  • 312 in Mindanao.

New Record-High

The SWS survey stated that the new record-high of 30.7 percent has surpassed the previous peak of 23.8 percent which was recorded in March 2012.

Hunger Rate

The new record-high 30.7 percent hunger rate in September 2020 is the sum from the two categories which is the Moderate Hunger and Severe Hunger.

Moderate Hunger

The SWS survey defined Moderate Hunger as those who experienced hunger “Only Once” or “A Few Times” in the last three months. And, a sum of 22.0 percent or an estimate of 5.5 Million families experienced Moderate Hunger. This surpassed the previous record of 18.9 percent in December 2009.

Severe Hunger

For Severe Hunger, this refers to those who experienced it “Often” or “Always” in the last three months. An estimate of 2.2 Million Families or 8.7 percent have experienced Severe Hunger and this surpassed the former peak recorded in March 2001.

Hunger Rates in Different Areas

According to the SWS survey,  the 9.8-point rise in the nationwide Hunger rate from July 2020 to September 2020 was due to the new record-highs in the Visayas, Mindanao, and Metro Manila.

Here is the total hunger rate per area recorded in September 2020.

Visayas

In the Visayas, 40.7 percent or an estimate of 1.9 Million Families experienced hunger.

Mindanao

For Mindanao, an estimate of 2.1 Million families, or 37.5 percent of hunger rate was recorded.

Metro Manila

A new record-high 28.2 percent or an estimate of 941,000 families was recorded in Metro Manila.

Balance Luzon

23.8 percent or an estimate of 2.6 Million Families was recorded in Balance Luzon.

Furthermore, all of the new records have surpassed the previous records.

Hunger Among Different Households

Among the households, hunger incidence is higher among households of non-elementary graduate respondents according to SWS. And, here are the hunger rates among different households in September 2020.

• Non-elementary Graduate Respondents: 47.7 percent
• Elementary Graduate Respondents: 35.9 percent
• Junior High school Graduate Respondents: 30.9 percent
• College Graduate Respondents: 15.8 percent

Source: September 17-20, 2020, National Mobile Survey of Social Weather Stations