Six out of 10 Filipinos believe their quality of life got worse in the past 12 months, a non-commissioned survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.
The third quarter 2021 SWS survey was conducted from Sept. 12 to 16 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 Filipino adults nationwide.
The survey results released Tuesday, Oct. 26, showed that 57 percent of the respondents believe their quality of life got worse, 13 percent said it got better, and 29 percent said it was the same compared to a year ago.
SWS used the term "losers" for those who believe their quality of life got worse, "gainers" for those who think their quality of life got better, and "unchanged" for those who said it was the same.
The resulting "net gainers" score is -44 (percentage of gainers minus percentage of losers), classified by SWS as "extremely low."
"The September 2021 Net Gainer score is 13 points down from the very low -31 in June 2021, arresting the recovery from the catastrophic -76 in September 2020 to extremely low -48 in November 2020 and very low -38 in May 2021," SWS said in a statement.
The grade "excellent" is applied to scores at +20 and above; "very high" to scores between +10 and +19; "high" to scores between +1 and +9; "fair" to scores between –9 and zero; "mediocre" to scores between –19 and –10; "low" to scores between –29 and –20; "very low" to scores between –39 and –30; "extremely low" to scores at –49 to –40; and "catastrophic" to scores –50 and below.
Quality of life worsens
SWS found net gainers worsened in all areas--"catastrophic" in Metro Manila and "extremely low" elsewhere.
Compared to June 2021, the survey found net gainers worsened by two grades from very low to catastrophic in Metro Manila, down by 21 points from -30 to -51.
It also worsened from very low to extremely low in Mindanao, down by 16 points from -31 to -47, and very low to extremely low in Balance Luzon, down by 14 points from -27 to -41.
Likewise, it worsened but stayed extremely low in the Visayas, down by six points from -40 to -46.
SWS also noted that net gainers worsened for all education groups except college graduates.
It said that compared to June 2021, net gainers worsened from very low to extremely low among non-elementary graduates, down by nine points from -37 to -46.
It also worsened from extremely low to catastrophic among elementary graduates, down by 19 points from -42 to -31, and from very low to extremely low among junior high school graduates, down by 16 points from -30 to -46.
However, it eased from very low to low among college graduates, up by four points from -30 to -26.
SWS explained that up to December 2019, "very low' was the bottom-most category and was applied to scores –30 and below.
"In the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, new negative categories were delineated. In May 2020, the grade "Extremely Low” was added and applied to scores –40 and below; and in August 2020, the grade of "Catastrophic" was added for those scores below -50)," it said.
The survey question on the respondents' assessment of their change in quality-of-life in the past 12 months has been fielded 142 times since April 1983.