Despite government efforts to provide financial and job assistance to Filipinos due to the pandemic, at least 36 percent of Filipinos expect their quality of life to worsen in the next 12 months, according to the latest Social Weather Station Survey (SWS).
The survey, done July 3-6, found 36 percent of adult Filipinos claimed their quality-of-life would worsen (termed by SWS as “Pessimists”), while 30 percent expected it to stay the same, and 26 percent expected it to improve (“Optimists”) in the next 12 months.
The poll survey used mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing of 4,010 Filipinos aged 15 years old and above.
Sampling error margin is at ±2 percent for national percentages, ±6 percent for Metro Manila, ±2 for Balance Luzon, ±3 percent Visayas, and ±3 percent in Mindanao.
The 36 percent Pessimists in July 2020 is the second highest proportion in the 37-year series.
Pessimists peaked at 43 percent in May 2020, breaking the previous record 34 percent in March 2005, the SWS said.
The previous record of Filipinos expecting worse life circumstances was 34 percent in March 2005—the same year as the Camp Bagong Diwa Siege, Hello Garci Scandal, and Valentine’s Day bombings—while the 24 percent “optimists” in May 2020 is but a small improvement over the record-low 20 percent in both October 2000 and March 2005.
Only 26 percent of Filipinos believe their lives would get better in the coming 12 months.
By area, optimists are highest in Mindanao and Balance Luzon, both at -5, followed by Metro Manila at -9, and the Visayas at -28, the SWS survey found.
Compared to May 2020, Net Optimism improved in all areas except in Balance Luzon where it hardly changed from -4 in May to -5 in July.
The biggest improvement happened in Mindanao where the score increased from -32 in May to -5 in July.
This is followed by the Visayas, up from -37 in May to -28 in July, and Metro Manila, from -16 in May to -9 in July.
Net Optimism is generally lower among the less educated.
It is lowest among junior high school graduates (-16), followed by non-elementary graduates (-12), elementary graduates (-10), those with up to some college education (-9), and college graduates (+3).