Amid the rising prices of food and fuel, more Filipinos feel that their lives have worsened, according to the latest survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) in the third quarter of the year.
The survey also showed that more Filipinos feel pessimistic about the economy in the next 12 months.
In a survey conducted from Sept. 15 to 23, the SWS found that 30 percent of the respondents said their lives had “worsened” (losers), while 28 percent said their lives had “improved” (gainers), resulting in a score of -2 (gainers minus losers).
The -2 score is seven points lower than the +5 score posted in June, and the lowest since the -8 score in September 2014.
Economic optimism
According to SWS, 31 percent feel optimistic about the economy while 20 percent are pessimistic, resulting in a net economic optimist score of +11. This is a 19-point decline from the +30 net economic optimism in June.
The same survey found that 36 percent of Filipinos felt optimistic that their personal quality of life would improve in the next 12 months, down from 49 percent in June. From 5 percent in June, more Filipinos, or 9 percent, felt pessimistic during the survey period.
Net economic optimism worsened in all areas, the survey found. It fell 21 points in Mindanao (from +49 to +28), 22 points in the rest of Luzon (from +30 to +8), 19 points in the Visayas (from +20 to +1), and eight points in Metro Manila (from +13 to +5).
Negative scores
Across socioeconomic classes, optimism about the economy also tumbled. Net economic optimism fell 37 points among class ABC (from +42 to +5); 30 points among class E (from +38 to +8), and 15 points among class D (from +27 to +12).
After a positive score for 14 consecutive quarters, net gainers—or those who think their lives have improved—dropped to negative scores. The net gainers score fell in all areas, except in the Visayas, where it rose from -11 in June to net zero.
In Metro Manila, the score fell from +1 to -4. The score also worsened in the rest of Luzon, from +9 to -3, and in Mindanao, from +14 to net zero.
The survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults and has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3 percentage points. —INQUIRER RESEARCH