Around 34 percent of Filipinos believed that their quality of life got worse compared to a year ago, the first quarter survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed on Thursday, June 16.
The nationwide survey done face-to-face from April 19 to 27 among 1,440 adults also showed that 32 percent believed that it got better (“gainers”), while 34 percent said it was the same (“unchanged”), compared to 12 months before.
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.
SWS said that the resulting "net gainers" score is -2 (percentage of gainers minus percentage of losers), classified by SWS as "fair".
"The April 2022 Net Gainer score is 14 points up from the mediocre -16 in December 2021, but still 20 points below the pre-pandemic level of the very high +18 in December 2019," it added.
The pollster also mentioned that the net gainer score was generally negative until 2015 when it rose to positive numbers until the drastic deterioration beginning with the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. It has since trended back upwards but still has not reached the positive range.
Net gainers rise all areas, educ groups
SWS attributed the 14-point improvement in the national net gainer score between December 2021 and April 2022 to the increases in all areas.
Compared to December 2021, net gainers rose from mediocre to high in Metro Manila, up by 14 points from -11 to +4.
It also rose from mediocre to high in Balance Luzon, up by 13 points from -11 to +1. It eased from very low to mediocre in the Visayas, up by 19 points from -31 to -12. It eased from mediocre to fair in Mindanao, up by 11 points from -15 to -4.
Meanwhile, SWS stated that compared to December 2021, net gainers eased from mediocre to fair among non-elementary graduates, up by 10 points from -19 to -9.
It said that it stayed mediocre among elementary graduates, although up by 4 points from -17 to -13. It also rose from mediocre to high among junior high school graduates, up by 20 points from -17 to +3. It added that from fair to very high among college graduates, up by 21 points from -7 to +14.