More Filipinos said their quality of life had worsened over the past year, the Social Weather Stations' latest poll released over the weekend showed.
Thirty percent of the 1,200 adults SWS polled from 28 September to 1 October said their quality of life had worsened. This is up from 22 percent in the June and July study.
Twenty-eight of those who answered said their quality of life got better. In contrast, 41 percent said it stayed the same, down from 33 percent and 45 percent in the last poll.
SWS said this gave the net gainers a score of -2, considered "fair." There were also 13 points less than the "very high" score of +11 in June 2023. This score was estimated to be the lowest since June 2022, when it was -2.
"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 has since trended back upwards but has not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels," SWS said.
The private pollster explained that the net gainer score decreased because of the decline in every area.
SWS said the net gainers decreased from "very high" to "fair" in Metro Manila, down from +18 in June 2023 to -9 in the latest survey.
It also fell from "very high" to "high" in Balance Luzon from +13 to +3, and from "very high" to "fair" in Visayas from +10 to -7.
Meanwhile, Mindanao also declined from "high" to "fair" from +2 to -4.
SWS conducted the survey through face-to-face interviews. The sampling error for the whole country was ±2.8 percent. For Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, it was ±5.7 percent each.
