AdDU’s City Wide Social Survey-Series 14 (CWSS-14), conducted last May 19-26, 2023, revealed that only 10.6 percent of Davaoeño families viewed themselves as “poor.”
A significant decline from the consistent upward trend in the previous series of CWSS, particularly from 16.7% in CWSS-13, 14.6% in CWSS-12, 14.0% in CWSS-11, and 11.1% in CWSS-10.
Meanwhile, the percentage of Davaoeño families who viewed themselves as “not poor” has maintained its upward trend from the last two series of CWSS.
The recent CWSS-14 results showed that 2.9 percent of Davaoeño families viewed themselves as “not poor,” a more than double increase from 1.1 in CWSS-13 and 0.2 in CWSS-12.
Meanwhile, the majority of Davaoeno families considered themselves “on the line,” which means they are neither "poor" nor "not poor."
AdDU’s CWSS-14 adopted the Social Weather Stations (SWS) definition of self-rated poverty, where non-poor includes those people who consider themselves "not poor" and "borderline.”
Those people considered below the poverty threshold are those households with five family members earning a monthly income below P11,103, which is also the poverty threshold of Davao Region as of first semester of 2021.
Moreover, more than 80 percent of Davaoeños agreed that there was a widening gap between the rich and the poor in the city in the past six months.
To bridge the gap, the average of Davaoeños who consider themselves as “poor” responded that their lowest household expenses per month should be P12,806.56, while those who perceived themselves as on the poverty line should be P15,062.25.
Also, the average of those who tagged themselves as “poor” responded that they would need an additional income of P26,928.33 so they would no longer be considered poor.
For over seven years, CWSS has provided timely and meaningful data to know more and understand Davao City, University Research Council Chairperson Dr. Lourdesita S. Chan said in her message during the presentation of the survey results on July 11,2023 held at AdDU’s Bapa Benny Tudtud Auditorium.
The study also showed a decline in pessimism sentiments among Davaoenos about their current quality of life from the past six months, which is in contrast to the increasing trend in the previous series of CWSS.
The recent results revealed that only 16 percent of Davaoeños expressed that their quality of life now is more difficult, a major drop from 21.4 percent in CSWSS-13 and 21.0 percent in CWSS-12.
Based on the results, 32.7 percent of Davaoeños said that their quality of life now is better than before, while 51 percent said that their quality of life now is the same as in the past six months.
In terms of personal optimism about the quality of life among Davaoeños in one year time, 47 percent expressed optimism, indicating that their quality of life will improve. Another 40 percent of them responded that it will remain the same, and 7.1 percent expressed pessimism regarding their future quality of life.
The 14th edition of CWSS was participated by 630 household heads across three districts and 11 sub-districts of Davao City.
The study utilized a sampling error of plus-minus four percent at a 95 percent significance level.
This yearly poll covered areas in Socio-Demographic Profile, Household Facilities, Transportation, Health, Disaster Preparedness, Environment, Labor Force Profile and Status, Financial Situation, Self-Rated Poverty, Economic Trend Indicators, Nationalism, Peace and Order, Martial Law, Governance, Social Issues, and Happiness. (ASO/PIA XI)