A NEW survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed that when it came to paying for their daily needs, nearly half of those surveyed spent their wages rather than cash aid.

In a statement released on Friday, SWS said that based on its special Covid-19 Mobile Phone Survey conducted earlier this month, “45% of Filipino families use money earned from a job for their daily household expenses, 39% use money that was given (money amelioration), 21% use their personal savings, and 6% use money that was lent (money-loan).”

The non-commissioned survey had 4,010 respondents across the country who were contacted through mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). The sampling error margin is ±2% for national percentages and ±6% for Metro Manila, ±2% for Balance Luzon, ±3% Visayas, and ±3% in Mindanao.

According to SWS, the source of money used by Filipinos to spend on daily necessities differed per region, with 41% of respondents in Metro Manila saying they used money amelioration for their expenditures while 33% use their salaries.

For the rest of the regions, most Filipinos relied on their wages for their daily needs: 51% in the Visayas, 49% in Mindanao, and 43% in Balance Luzon.

The study comes as the Philippines has been locked down in an effort to control the spread of the SARS-Cov-2 virus which causes COVID-19. The government has allocated funds for its social amelioration program (SAP) which aims to help 18 million of the poorest households.

Metro Manila contributes most to the country’s GDP and has the highest minimum daily wage (P537) out of all the regions. — Gillian M. Cortez

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