Adult Filipinos who believed their quality of life improved in the past 12 months increased, but the growth was still nowhere near pre-pandemic levels, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
The data showed 34 percent of adult Filipinos said their quality-of-life was better than 12 months before, while 26 percent said it got worse and 39 percent said it was the same compared to a year ago.
SWS said the December 2022 Net Gainer score was up from the fair levels of net zero in October 2022 and negative 2 in June 2022 and April 2022. However, this was still 10 points below the pre-pandemic level of very high positive 18 in December 2019.
“The survey question on the respondents’ assessment of their change in quality-of-life in the past 12 months has been fielded 147 times since April 1983,” SWS said.
“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 still has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels,” it explained.
The survey found that adult Filipinos belonging to the 3 million families who experienced involuntary hunger in December said their quality of life worsened compared to 12 months prior.
The data showed net gainers among the Severely Hungry families was low at minus 21; fair among the overall hungry at minus 7; and fair among the moderately hungry at minus 4.
However, net gainers among the not hungry families were very high at positive 10. Compared to October, the SWS said the Net Gainers score also rose to very high from high among the Not Hungry families to positive 10 from positive 2.
“It [net gainers] rose from mediocre to fair among the Overall Hungry families, up from minus 17 to minus 7. It also rose from mediocre to fair among the Moderately Hungry, up from minus 19 to minus 4. However, it fell from mediocre to low among the Severely Hungry, down from minus 11 to minus 21,” SWS said.
Based on regions, adult Filipinos living in Mindanao saw the highest improvement in their quality of life compared to a year ago.
SWS also noted that net gainers rose sharply to very high from mediocre in Mindanao, up by 21 points to positive 10 in December last year from minus 11 in October 2022.
The SWS data showed there was an eight-point increase in the national Net Gainer score between October 2022 and December 2022 was due to increases in all areas, especially in Mindanao.
SWS said Mindanao was followed by Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) and Balance Luzon.
In Metro Manila, the data showed Net Gainers rose to very high from high or up by 9 points to positive 18 in December 2022 from positive 9 in October 2022.
The data also showed net gainers also rose to very high from high in Balance Luzon, up by 2 points to positive 10 in December 2022 from positive 8 in October 2022.
However, net gainers only rose to fair from mediocre in the Visayas, up by 9 points to minus 4 in December 2022 from minus 13 in October last year.
The fourth quarter 2022 Social Weather Survey was conducted from December 10 to 14, 2022, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide: 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
Face-to-face is the standard interviewing method for Social Weather Stations; the only exceptions were early in the pandemic when movement restrictions made face-to-face impossible and mobile phone interviews were conducted.
Normal face-to-face field operations resumed in November 2020. The sampling error margins are ±2.8 percent for national percentages, ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.