SWS: 3.4 million hungry Filipino families in 2nd quarter of 2021

A boy eats lunch near Del Pan Bridge in Manila surrounded by equally hungry children. RICHARD REYES/INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — An estimated 3.4 million Filipino families experienced hunger in the second quarter of 2021, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

According to the SWS survey conducted from June 23 to 26 and released Wednesday, around 13.6 percent or an estimated 3.4 million families experienced hunger at least once from April to June this year.

While the June 2021 hunger rate is lower than the 16.8 percent recorded in May, it is still above the 8.8 percent pre-pandemic percentage back in December 2019.

Nonetheless, SWS noted that the June 2021 hunger rate is lower than the 21.1 percent annual average recorded in 2020.

By the numbers

The 13.6 percent June 2021 hunger rate is the sum of the 11.5 percent who experienced moderate hunger and 2.1 percent who experienced severe hunger, the SWS said.

The survey noted that “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 Metro Manila, moderate hunger and severe hunger are 9.3 percent and 4.7 percent, respectively, in June 2021.

SWS also noted that the overall hunger rate eased in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

The survey was conducted from June 23 to 26 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide. Sampling error margins are ±3 percent for national percentages.

/MUF