One in three adult Filipinos believe they have a better quality of life now compared to a year ago, a Social Weather Stations survey showed.
Some 22 percent said they experienced worsening conditions, while 45 percent reported no change from the previous year.
This resulted in a net gainer score of 11 percent which is “very high,” according to the SWS.
It was also six points higher than the five percent net gainer score in March 2023 but still below pre-pandemic level of 18 percent in December 2019.
SWS used the term “gainers” for those who believe their quality of life got better, “losers” for those who think their quality of life worsened, and “unchanged” for those who said it stayed the same.
The survey showed that compared to March 2023, net gainers rose from high to very high in Metro Manila, up by 16 points from +2 to +18.
Net gainers also rose sharply from mediocre to very high in the Visayas, up by 24 points from -14 to +10.
It stayed very high in Balance Luzon, hardly moving from +12 to +13, while it remained high in Mindanao, although down by four points from +6 to +2.
Meanwhile, net gainers among non-hungry families increased to 13 percent from five percent in March 2023, but net gainers in overall hungry families, moderately hungry families and severely hungry families all decreased, SWS said.
The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults aged 18 years old and above nationwide: 600 in Balance Luzon, and 300 each in Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
The sampling error margins are ±2.5 percent for national percentages, ±4.0 percent in Balance Luzon, and ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.