49% of families view themselves as poor in June, down slightly from April

Forty-nine percent of Filipino families viewed themselves as poor in June, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey conducted on Friday.

This represents 13.7 million families, down slightly from 14.1 million in April.

The decline was attributed to decreases in the Visayas and Balance Luzon, offset by increases in Mindanao and Metro Manila.

Of those who identified as poor, 34.8% were 'always poor', while 6.4% and 7.8% were classified as 'usually poor' and 'newly poor', respectively.

Forty-one percent of respondents said they were not poor, a slight decrease from the previous survey's record high of 42%. The percentage of families considered food-poor was 41%, with another 10% on the borderline.

Self-rated poverty in Mindanao reached its highest at 69%, followed by Visayas at 60%, Balance Luzon at 38%, and Metro Manila at 36%. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. vowed to improve Filipino lives during his State of the Nation Address.