Fewer Filipinos expect lives to improve — Social Weather Stations

MANILA, Philippines — Fewer Filipinos expect their lives to improve in the next 12 months, results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

The SWS poll, taken from Sept. 15 to 23, found 36 percent of adult Filipinos expecting their personal quality of life to improve in the next 12 months (“optimists”) and nine percent saying it will get worse (“pessimists”) for a net personal optimists score of +27.

However, the SWS said the latest net personal optimists figure is still classified as “high.”

This was 17 points down from the +44 (excellent) in June 2018 and the lowest since the +27 (high) in August 2012, the pollster said.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide.

The net personal optimists nationwide fell in all areas between June and September.

In Metro Manila, it dropped from +41 (excellent) in June 2018 to +19 (fair) in September 2018.

Net personal optimists in Mindanao declined from +48 (excellent) in June to +30 (very high) in September.

It fell in balance Luzon, from +49 (excellent) in June to +34 (very high) in September.

It also went down in the Visayas, from +31 (very high) in June to +25 (high) in September.

Net personal optimism also fell in all classes, the SWS said.

It fell in class ABC, from +43 (excellent) in June 2018 to +17 (fair) in September.

It dropped in class D, from +45 (excellent) in June to +27 (high) in class D.

It also fell in class E, from +41 (excellent) in June to +29 (high) in September.

Meanwhile, the number of Filipinos who expect the economy to get better also dwindled in the past quarter.

The survey found 31 percent of Filipinos are optimistic that the Philippine economy next year would get better, while 20 percent feel it would deteriorate, resulting in a net economic optimists score of +11, classified as very high.

This was 19 points below the +30 (excellent) in June 2018, and the lowest since the +6 (high) in March 2015.

Net economic optimists refer to expectations about the general Philippine economy, while net personal optimism pertains to expectations in personal quality of life.

SWS attributed the 19-point drop in national net economic optimists score to decreases in all areas.

It fell in Mindanao, from +49 (excellent) in June 2018 to +28 in September 2018.

It dropped in balance Luzon, from +30 (excellent) in June to +8 (high) in September.

It decreased in the Visayas, from +20 (excellent) in June to +1 (high) in September.

It also fell in Metro Manila, from +13 (very high) in June to +5 (high) in September.

The net economic optimists also declined across socio-economic classes, especially in class ABC.

It fell in class ABC, from +42 (excellent) in June 2018 to +5 (high) in September 2018 (Chart 12, Table 9).

Net economic optimists declined in class E, from +38 (excellent) in June to +8 (high) in September.

It also fell in class D, from +27 (excellent) in June to +12 (very high) in September.

Meanwhile, the same poll found 28 percent of adult Filipinos who claimed their lives improved (“gainers”) and 30 percent who said their lives worsened (“losers”), for a negative net gainers score of -2, classified by the SWS as fair.

This was seven points below the +5 (high) in June 2018 and is the lowest since the -8 (fair) in September 2014.

“This is the first time for net gainers to be negative again, after 14 consecutive quarterly positive scores, starting in the first quarter of 2015,” the SWS noted.

The seven-point decline in the national net gainers score was due to declines in Mindanao, Metro Manila and balance Luzon, combined with an increase in the Visayas, the polling firm said.

It fell in Mindanao, from +14 (very high) in June 2018 to net zero (fair) in September 2018, the lowest since the -12 (mediocre) in April 2016.

It fell in Metro Manila, from +1 (high) in June to -4 (fair) in September, also the lowest since the -9 in December 2014.

It also dropped in balance Luzon, from +9 (high) in June to +3 (high) in September, the lowest since the -4 (fair) in September 2014.