SWS: Fewer Filipinos optimistic about economy, quality of life

MANILA, Philippines — Fewer Filipinos expect their lives and the country’s economy to improve in the next 12 months, results of the latest Social Weather Stations survey showed.

The June survey showed that the net personal optimists score in the second quarter—while staying “excellent” for the third quarter in a row—fell to +42. This is five points lower than the +47 recorded in the first quarter.

This, after 46% of the 1,200 respondents said they are optimistic that the quality of their lives would improve in the next 12 months. Only 3% are expecting it will get worse.

SWS explained the five-point decrease was due to the two-point increase in Metro Manila combined with declines in Balance Luzon, Mindanao and the steady figure in the Visayas.

Net personal optimists score slightly rose from +42 in March to +44 in June in Metro Manila but it went down from +52 to +42 in Balance Luzon and from +47 to +46 in Mindanao. It remained at +37 in the Visayas.

It also fell among all classes, especially class ABC. In June, the net personal optimists score among class ABC was down to +35 from +51 in March.

Similarly, the survey found that fewer Filipinos said their lives have improved. The June net gainers score of “very high” +13 was four points lower than the +17 in March.

The decline in the national net gainers score was due to the decreases in Metro Manila (from +21 in March to +18 in June), Balance Luzon (from +19 to +14) and Mindanao (from +16 to +9). The score, meanwhile, went up in the Visayas from +12 in March to +17 in June.

Net gainers score also dropped in all classes: from +31 in March to +21 in June among class ABC, from +18 to +16 among class D or the masa and from +8 to net zero among class E.

Optimism about economy

The second quarter survey also found that 43% of Filipino adults are hopeful the country’s economy would improve in the next 12 months, with 10% expressing pessimism about it.

This yielded a net economic optimists score of “excellent” +33—two points lower than the +35 in March.

Net economic optimists score was up by 14 points in the Visayas (from +25 in March to +39 in June) but suffered declines in Metro Manila (from +30 to +25) and Balance Luzon (from +36 to +27). It remained steady in Mindanao at +44.

The score rose among class ABC (from +27 to +30) and class E (from +28 to +33). It, however, went down among class D (from +37 to +33).

The survey was conducted from June 22 to 26 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults. It has sampling error margins of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon,  Visayas and Mindanao.