About a third of Filipinos surveyed recently by the Social Weather Stations said their lives have improved over the last 12 months, while about one in five said it worsened instead.
The survey, conducted last June 22 to June 26 with results released Thursday, said 36 percent of adult Filipinos saw their lives become better, but 22 percent experienced the opposite, leading to a “very high” net gainers score at plus-13 percent, SWS said in a statement.
Although the score remained “very high” for three consecutive quarters, the survey firm said the June score was 4 points lower to the plus-17 posted last March.
Net gainers score, or the percent of gainers minus the percent of losers, fell in Luzon and Mindanao and among all classes of society, the SWS noted.
“The 4-point decline in the national Net Gainers score in June 2019 was due to decreases in all areas except the Visayas,” it added.
The net personal optimists score, which refers to expectations in personal quality of life, also remained “excellent” after 46 percent of respondents said they were expecting the quality of life to improve in the next 12 months. Only four percent were “pessimists” expecting
it to get worse, the survey showed.
Again, the net personal optimists score of plus-42 is 5 points lower compared to March’s plus-47. It also rose only in Metro Manila and fell among all classes, especially the top ABC classes, the SWS said.
The Net Economic Optimists score, which refers to expectations about the general Philippine economy, is still “excellent” despite falling two points to plus-33 this June from plus-35 in March, the survey said.
By area, net economic optimists only rose in the Visayas but was up among all economic classes except class D, SWS said.
The net gainers score, or those saying their lives improved, is inversely related to the number of completed years of education, with the more educated respondents being the greater percentage of gainers, the survey revealed.
College graduates registered the highest net gainers score, followed by high school graduates, elementary graduates and those who were unable to finish grade school, the SWS said. Net gainers score is also significantly lower among individuals belonging to poor households the survey showed.