SWS: Quality of life better for 31%, worsened for 30%

MANILA, Philippines — The quality of life for most Filipinos stayed the same over the past year, with only one in three saying it improved, according to a recent survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Results of the survey conducted from March 15 to 20 found 38 percent of the respondents saying their quality of life stayed the same in the past 12 months.

Some 31 percent said it improved, while another 30 percent said it got worse.

Although the percentage who said their lives improved was similar to the results of an SWS survey in February, those who said it worsened increased by five points from 25 percent.

Those who said it stayed the same dropped from 43 percent in February.

The latest poll resulted in a “net gainers” score of +1, which is the rounded off difference of those who said their lives improved or “gainers” from those who said their lives worsened or “losers.”

The net gainers score was +6 in February and +7 in January. It was +13 at the end of last year.

SWS considers net gainers scores of +1 to +9 as “high.”

Across areas, the net gainers score was highest among those in balance Luzon at +8 (from +13), followed by those in Metro Manila at -2 (from -8), the Visayas at -8 (from +1) and Mindanao at -5 (from +2).

By educational attainment, the net gainers score was highest among those with some senior high school or college education at +10 (from +15), followed by college graduates at +7 (from +19), non-elementary graduates at zero (from +1), those with some junior high school education at -2 (from zero) and junior high school graduates at -5 (from +2).

Across age groups, those aged 18 to 24 had the highest “net gainers” score of +25 (from +22), followed by 25 to 34 at +8 (from +18), 35 to 44 at -2 (from +7), 45 to 54 at -3 (from -2) and 55 and above at -7 (from -3).

The survey had 1,800 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus 2.31 percent for national percentages.