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The Sept. 17-20 survey of 1,249 respondents found that 71 percent of Filipinos said their families received cash assistance from the government since the start of the pandemic.
“This has barely changed from 72 percent in July 2020, which implies that there has been no increase in recipients of the (government) cash subsidy between July and September 2020,” said SWS.
The survey also showed that 67 percent of Filipinos said their families received financial aid once and 29 percent received it twice.
The remaining 2% received the aid three times, 1% received it four times and 0.21% received it five times.
Meanwhile, 71 percent whose families received financial assistance said they received an average total of P7,531 since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
The survey also found that financial aid distribution was more widespread and frequent in Metro Manila compared to other areas.
“The proportion of those whose families received monetary aid from the government was highest in Metro Manila (82 percent), followed by Visayas (73 percent), Balance Luzon (70 percent) and Mindanao (64 percent).” SWS said.
By frequency of receiving financial aid, the majority of families that received cash aid from the government received it only once in all areas except Metro Manila, where most received it twice.
In Metro Manila, 39 percent of families that received financial aid from the government received it once, 48 percent received it twice, 6 percent received it three times, 4 percent received it four times, and 1 percent received it five times.
In Balance Luzon, 65 percent of the families that received cash aid received it once, 32 percent received it twice, 2 percent received it three times, and only 0.43 percent received it four times.
In the Visayas, 71 percent of families who received cash aid received it once, 26 percent received it twice, 1 percent received it three times, and only 0.45 percent received it five times.
In Mindanao, 86 percent of families who received financial aid received it once, 12 percent received it twice, 2 percent received it three times, and 1 percent received it four times.
Regarding the average amount received, the survey showed that the families in Metro Manila received the highest average amount compared to those in Balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
The same survey also showed that more families in urban areas (75 percent) received financial assistance from the government than in rural areas (67 percent).
Meanwhile, SWS also found that financial aid is lower among families of non-elementary graduates.
The proportion of those whose families received financial assistance from the government was highest among non-elementary graduates (66 percent), elementary school graduates (74 percent), high school graduates (76 percent), and those with some college (69 percent) compared to college graduates (60 percent).
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the average amount of financial assistance received by the families of non-elementary school graduates was less than the average amount received by the families of the more educated respondents.
The SWS survey, conducted using a mobile phone and a computer-assisted telephone interview, had a sampling error margin of ± 3 percent for national percentages, ± 6 percent for Metro Manila, ± 5 percent for Balance Luzon, ± 6 percent for Visayas and ± 6 percent for Mindanao.
Millions of jobs were lost due to strict stay-at-home rules that crippled the local economy and forced businesses to close their doors in March and April.
More industries were allowed to resume operations in late May, but experts say it could take at least two years to get jobs back.
The national government is distributing cash aid through its social betterment program to help Filipinos affected by the pandemic.
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