62% believe quality of life worsened this year

MANILA, Philippines — Six in 10 adult Filipinos believed their quality of life worsened in the past 12 months, the latest survey by pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The poll, conducted from Nov. 21 to 25, found 62 percent of Filipinos who said their lives got worse against 14 percent who said it got better, for a net gainers score of -48, classified by SWS as “extremely low.”

The remaining 24 percent said their quality of life was the same compared to a year ago, the SWS said.

The November 2020 net gainer score of -48 was an improvement from the “catastrophic” -76 in September 2020, with 82 percent saying their quality of life worsened in the past 12 months and only six percent saying it got better.

Compared to September, net gainers eased from catastrophic to extremely low in balance Luzon, up by 32 points from -75 to -43, and in Mindanao, up by 26 points from -74 to -48.

It remained catastrophic in Metro Manila, up by 21 points from -76 to -55, and the Visayas, up by 24 points from -80 to -56.

Net gainers also eased in all educational levels.

Compared to September 2020, net gainers eased from catastrophic to extremely low among non-elementary graduates, up by 27 points from -72 to -45, and among college graduates, up by 21 points from -64 to -43.

It stayed catastrophic among elementary graduates, up by 33 points from -83 to -50, and among junior high school graduates, up by 26 points from -76 to -50.

The Fourth Quarter 2020 Social Weather Survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults, 18 years old and above, nationwide.