30% of Pinoys say quality of lives worsened in Q3

MORE Filipinos said the quality of their lives worsened in the third quarter of the year, the September 28 to October 1 survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

SWS said 28 percent of Filipinos said the quality of their lives was better than last year or “gainers” (down from 33 percent in June) while 30 percent said it worsened or losers (up from 22 percent).

Forty-one percent said their lives remained the same as last year (unchanged from June).

This resulted in a 13-point drop in the net gainers’ score or -2 (down from +11), which the SWS classified as “fair” or a downgrade from “very high” in June. It was the lowest since the -2 in June 2022.

SWS classifies net gainers scores – or the difference between the gainers’ rating and losers’ rating – as “excellent” if +20 and above; “very high” if between +10 and +19; “high” if between +1 and +9; “fair” if between –9 and zero”; “mediocre” if between–19 and –10; “low” if between –29 and –20; “very low” if between –39 and –30; “extremely low” if between –49 to –40; and “catastrophic” if–50 and below.

A change in level is considered either an upgrade or downgrade.

SWS said the 13-point decline was due to the decrease in ratings in all areas.

The net gainers’ score was highest in Luzon with +3 (down by 10 points from +13), followed by Mindanao with -4 (down by six from +2), the Visayas with -7 (down by 17 points from +10) and Metro Manila with -9 (down by 27 points from +18).

SWS said net gainers were highest among college graduates with +9 (from +25), followed by high school graduates with +3 (down from +17), elementary graduates with -10 (down from -1) and non-elementary graduates with -15 (down from +1).