Do the poor squander? BSP spending data upends stereotypes

The BSP's 2021 Consumer Finance Survey data tell a story that challenges long-held beliefs about Filipino spending habits. Among the bottom 30 percent, nearly three-fifths of every peso (58.2) is swallowed by essential food, proof that survival still dictates daily choices. Even the richest 30 percent spend half their budget on food, but the gradual drop shows how rising incomes slowly loosen the grip of the dining table. As earnings climb, families channel more to housing, utilities, and transportation, upgrading homes and gaining mobility. The wealthiest spend the most on furnishings and maintenance, a quiet signal of comfort and stability. Yet education flips the script: the poorest devote 5.7 percent of their budget to schooling—over twice what the richest spend—suggesting that among the poor more particularly, education is the surest escape from poverty. The biggest surprise though appears to be in the pesos spent on life’s little luxuries. Contrary to the cliché that the poor waste spare pesos on vices, they actually spend the least on non-essential food and alcohol, just 1 and 1.4 percent respectively. Middle and upper groups indulge more. For policymakers, the message should be clear--make food affordable, housing livable, and education accessible. The poorest are not squanderers—they are disciplined survivors fighting to get through.