86% of adult Filipinos stressed by pandemic —SWS

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought stress to 86% of adult Filipinos, a Social Weather Stations survey found.

In its September 17-20, 2020 national mobile phone survey, SWS discovered that 58% of adult Filipinos experienced “great stress,” while 27% had “much stress,” due to the virus. Only 15% felt little or no stress.

It also found that 30.7% or an estimated 7.6 million Filipinos experienced hunger. This was up by 9.8 points from 20.9% in July.

The hunger rate is a new record that surpassed the previous peak of 23.8% in March 2012.

Of those who experienced hunger, 69% had great stress.

Meanwhile, the survey also found that 58% of those with no job but had one before, and those who never had a job before, as well as among those with a job at the time of the interview, experienced great stress due to the pandemic.

Those with great stress were also highest at 64% in the Visayas, followed by 58% in Balance Luzon, 55% in Mindanao and 53% in Metro Manila.

Moreover, the proportion of those with great stress was highest at 61% among junior high school graduates, followed by 59% among non-elementary graduates, 57% among those with some high school, 56% among those with some college and 55% among college graduates.

The proportion of those with great stress was similar among men and women at 58% and 57%, respectively.

By age group, it was at 62% among 45-54 year-olds, 61% among 25-34 year-olds, 60% among 18-24 year-olds and 57% among 35-44 year-olds, compared to 49% among 5 5years old and above.

The SWS poll was conducted using mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing of 1,249 adult Filipinos aged 18 years old and above nationwide. Of the 1,249 respondents, 309 were from Metro Manila, 328 from Balance Luzon, 300 in the Visayas, and 312 in Mindanao.

The sampling error margin is ±3% for national percentages, ±6% for Metro Manila, ±5% for Balance Luzon, ±6% for the Visayas, and ±6% for Mindanao. — BM, GMA News