SWS: 34% Pinoys say quality of life improved

At least 34% of adult Filipinos believe that their quality of life is better compared to 12 months before while 26% said their life got worse, and 39% believe their lives remain the same, according to the national Social Weather Survey of December 10-14, 2022.

The score of the Net Gainers or those who believe the quality of their life is better was pegged at +8 [that was computed from percent Gainers minus percent Losers] was classified as "high" (range from +1 to +9).

"The December 2022 Net Gainer score was up from the fair levels of net zero in October 2022 and -2 in June 2022 and April 2022," the SWS said.

"However, it is still 10 points below the pre-pandemic level of very high +18 in December 2019."

The SWS said that the survey question on the respondents’ assessment of their change in quality-of-life in the past 12 months has been fielded 147 times since April 1983.

"The Net Gainer score was generally negative until 2015, when it rose to positive numbers until the drastic deterioration beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. It has since trended back upwards but still has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels," the agency added.

The Fourth Quarter 2022 Social Weather Survey was conducted from December 10-14, 2022, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide with 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

The interviewing method used is face-to-face since November 2020.

The sampling error margins are ±2.8% for national percentages, ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao scores

The 8-point rise in the national Net Gainer score was due to increases in all areas, especially in Mindanao.

Compared to October 2022, Net Gainers rose from high to very high in Metro Manila, up by 9 points from +9 to +18. 

The score also rose from high to very high in Balance Luzon, up by 2 points from +8 to +10 and in the Visayas the score also increased from mediocre to fair, up by 9 points from -13 to -4.

In Mindanao, however, the score rose sharply from mediocre to very high in Mindanao, up by 21 points from -11 to +10.

It was also noted that the score is "very high" among college graduates and junior high school graduates and "fair" among both non-elementary graduates and elementary graduates.

The Net Gainers are higher among Not Hungry families than Hungry families and among Self-Rated Poor, Borderline Poor, and Non-Poor families. -- BAP, GMA Integrated News