By Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz
Fewer Filipinos are saying their lives have improved in the past 12 months, a survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.
(REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco)
In the second quarter of 2019 survey fielded over June 22-26 among 1,200 respondents, SWS found 36 percent of Filipinos saying their lives improved (gainers) and 22 percent saying their lives worsened (losers) in the last 12 months.
This translates to a net gainers score (percentage of gainers minus percentage of losers) of +13, classified by SWS as “very high.”
Although it is very high for the third consecutive quarter, SWS pointed out that the latest net gainers score is four points lower than the +17 in March.
It is due to a two-point decrease in the percentage of gainers and a one-point increase in the percentage of losers.
The decrease in the net gainers score comes after a 19-point increase over the previous two quarters.
After dropping to -2 (fair) in September 2018, it went up to +12 (very high) in December, and up again to +17 (very high) in March 2019, before falling to +13 in June.
The June 2019 survey also found 46 percent of adults expecting their quality of life to improve in the next 12 months (optimists), and 4 percent expecting it to get worse (pessimists), for a net personal optimists score (percentage of optimists minus percentage of pessimists of +42, classified by SWS as “excellent.”
Similar to net gainers, the June 2019 net personal optimists score, while staying excellent for the third quarter in a row, is five points lower than the +47 in March.
This is due to a four-point decrease in the percentage of optimists, combined with a steady percentage of pessimists.
The decrease in the net personal optimists score comes after a 20-point increase over two consecutive quarters.
After dropping to +27 (high) in September 2018, the score went up to +40 (excellent) in December, and then to +47 (excellent) in March 2019, before falling to +42 in June.
Likewise, the SWS survey found 42 percent of adults optimistic about the Philippine economy saying it will improve in the next 12 months.
Another 10 percent are pessimistic about it which gives a net economic optimists score (percentage of economic optimists minus percentae of economic pessimists) of +33, classified as “excellent.”
SWS explained that net economic optimism refers to expectations about the general Philippine economy, and is different from net personal optimism which refers to expectations in personal quality of life.
The latest net economic optimists score, though staying excellent, is two points lower than the +35 in March.
It is attributed to a three-point decrease in the percentage of economic optimists, combined with a steady percentage of economic pessimists.
The decrease in the net economic optimists score comes after a 24-point increase in two consecutive quarters.
After dropping to +11 (very high) in September 2018, it rose to +32 (excellent) in December, and to +35 (excellent) in March 2019, before falling to +33 in June.