Shoppers are shown in Baclaran, Parañaque City in this undated photo. Only 23 percent of the respondents in the SWS survey said their lives got worse the past 12 months. (PNA file photo)
More Filipinos or 39 percent, up from 30 percent, said their lives improved in the last 12 months while 23 percent, down from 25 percent, said their lives worsened during the same period, the June 23 to July 1 survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.
The survey, which involved 1,500 adult respondents and had a margin of error of ±2.5 percent, also showed that 37 percent said their lives stayed the same or did not change in the past year.
SWS said this resulted in a net gainers’ score of +15 (percentage of gainers or those whose lives improved minus percentage of losers or those whose lives worsen) which is a 10-point improvement from the +5 in March but still 3 points below the +18 net gainers’ score in December 2019 or before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The polling firm said the Net Gainer score was highest in Luzon at +26 (up form +14), followed by Metro Manila at +16 (up from +9), Mindanao at +7 (up from -8), and the Visayas at +1 (up from -2).
It was also highest among the college graduates (+21 up from +10), followed by the high school graduates (+19 up from+12), the elementary graduates (+14 up from -4), and non-elementary graduates (0 up from -1).
SWS said the net gainers score was also higher among non-hungry and non-poor families than those who claimed their families experienced hunger or are considered poor.
The polling firm found the net gainers score was highest among non-hungry families at +18 (up from +7), than those who are moderately hungry at +12 (up from -2), and severely hungry at -17 (from -15).
It was also highest among not poor families at +26 (from +21), than the self-rated borderline poor at +16 (from +11) and poor at +9 (from -6).
In the June 23 to July 1 survey,
SWS said 58 percent of Filipinos rated their families poor, while 12 percent said they are “borderline” or between being poor and non-poor, and 30 percent said their families are poor.
The same survey showed that 17.6 percent of Filipino families experienced involuntary hunger or not being able to eat at least one in the last three months.
This is the sum of 12.8 percent who experienced moderate hunger or those who experienced hunger only once or a few times and 4.9 percent who experienced severe hunger or did not have anything to eat often or always in the past three months.
