More Pinoys say life has gotten worse – SWS poll

MANILA, Philippines — About one in every three Filipinos said the quality of life worsened over the past year, the highest so far under the Marcos administration, a recent survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

Results of the Sept. 28 to Oct. 1 survey released yesterday found that 30 percent of the respondents said their personal quality of life worsened in the past 12 months.

Some 28 percent said it got better, while 41 percent said it was the same.

Those who said their quality of life worsened in the past year increased from 22 percent in a similar survey last July. The 30 percent obtained in the latest survey was the highest since the 31 percent obtained in June 2022 – the last survey conducted during the Duterte administration.

Meanwhile, those who said that their quality of life improved in the past year dropped from 33 percent in July, while those who said it was the same dropped from 45 percent.

The latest survey resulted in a “net gainers” score of -2, the rounded off difference of those who said their lives worsened from those who said their lives improved. It went down from +11 in July and was the lowest since the -2 obtained in June 2022.

It was also the first time that the net gainers score dropped to negative under the Marcos administration.

Across areas, the net gainers score was highest among those in balance Luzon at +3 (from +13), followed by those in Mindanao at -4 (from +2), Visayas at -7 (from +10) and Metro Manila at -9 (from +18).

In terms of educational attainment, it was highest among college graduates at +9 (from +25), followed by high school graduates at +3 (from +17), elementary graduates at -10 (from -1) and non-elementary graduates at -15 (from +1).

The survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus 2.8 percent for national percentages.