THREE of four Filipinos felt worse off in the second quarter from a year earlier, according to the latest poll of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
SWS said 31% of adult Filipinos said their quality of life was worse than 12 months ago, 29% said it got better and 39% said it was the same.
This resulted in a net gainer score of -2 (gainers minus losers), which the pollster classified as fair.
The June net gainer score was similar to April and 20 points below the pre-pandemic level of a very high 18 in December 2019, it added.
SWS has been conducting the poll since April 1983.
“The net gainer score was generally negative until 2015 when it rose to positive numbers until the drastic deterioration beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns,” it said in a statement. “It has since trended back upwards but still has not reached the positive range.”
Net gainers stayed high in Metro Manila, up by 2 points to 6 in April. It also stayed high in Balance Luzon, up by 4 points to 5.
It stayed fair in Mindanao, although it fell by 3 points to -7. It stayed mediocre in the Visayas, though down by 5 points to -17, SWS said. — Norman P. Aquino