SWS: 57% of Filipinos say life got worse in past 12 months

More than half of Filipinos revealed that their life got worse in the past 12 months, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) said Tuesday.

In its September 2021 poll, SWS found that 57% of adult Filipinos believed that their quality of life worsened a year ago while 13% said it got better and 29% said it stayed the same.

This decreased the net gainers score to -44 from -31 score recorded in June 2021. The net gainers score in September 2021 was also tagged as "extremely low" by the SWS.

Net Gainers score was "catastrophic" in the metropolis to -51 from -30 in June 2021.

It was extremely low in Mindanao from -31 in June 2021 to -47 in September 2021, the pollster said.

In Balance Luzon, net gainers score was extremely low from  - 27 in June to -41 in September while it remained extremely low in Visayas from -40 to -46.

Education groups 

Net gainers score was poor in all education groups except for those who finished college, SWS said.

The pollster said net gainers score for quality of life among elementary graduates was catastrophic with a score of -42.

It was extremely low among junior high school graduates with -46.

Meanwhile, the net gainers score was low for college graduates, with -26.

The quality of life survey was conducted from September 12 to September 16 but used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 Filipinos aged 18 years old and above all over the country including 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

"The sampling error margins are ±3% for national percentages and ±6% for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao," SWS further pointed out.

Specifically, the poll's question is as follows:

"Kung ikukumpara ang uri ng inyong kasalukuyang pamumuhay sa nakaraang 12 buwan, masasabi ba ninyo na ang uri ng inyong pamumuhay ay MAS MABUTI KAYSA NOON, KAPAREHO NG DATI, o MAS MASAMA KAYSA NOON? [Comparing your quality of life these days to how it was 12 months ago, would you say that your quality of life is BETTER NOW THAN BEFORE, SAME AS BEFORE, or WORSE NOW THAN BEFORE?]"—LDF, GMA News