The national Social Weather Survey of April 19-27, 2022, found 34% of adult Filipinos saying their quality-of-life was worse than twelve months before (termed by SWS as “Losers”), 32% saying it got better (“Gainers”), and 34% saying it was the same (“Unchanged”), compared to a year ago.
The resulting Net Gainers score is -2 (% Gainers minus % Losers), classified by SWS as fair (-9 to zero).
The April 2022 Net Gainer score is 14 points up from the mediocre -16 in December 2021, but still 20 points below the pre-pandemic level of the very high +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 144 times 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 has since trended back upwards but still has not reached the positive range.
Net Gainers rises in all areas
The 14-point improvement in the national Net Gainer score between December 2021 and April 2022 was due to increases in all areas.
Compared to December 2021, Net Gainers rose from mediocre to high in Metro Manila, up by 14 points from -11 to +4.
It also rose from mediocre to high in Balance Luzon, up by 13 points from -11 to +1.
It eased from very low to mediocre in the Visayas, up by 19 points from -31 to -12.
It eased from mediocre to fair in Mindanao, up by 11 points from -15 to -4.
SWS: 34% of adult Filipinos got worse off in the past 12 months
Net Gainers rises in all education groups
Compared to December 2021, Net Gainers eased from mediocre to fair among non-elementary graduates, up by 10 points from -19 to -9.
It stayed mediocre among elementary graduates, although up by 4 points from -17 to -13.
It rose from mediocre to high among junior high school graduates, up by 20 points from -17 to +3.
It rose from fair to very high among college graduates, up by 21 points from -7 to +14.
Hunger is greater among Losers
The April 2022 survey found that 12.2% of Filipino families, or an estimated 3.1 million, experienced involuntary hunger – being hungry and not having anything to eat – at least once in the past three months (“First Quarter 2022 Social Weather Survey: Hunger rises from 11.8% to 12.2%,” June 6, 2022, www.sws.org.ph).
Hunger is significantly greater among Losers than among Gainers and Unchanged: involuntary hunger was 15.9% (11.8% moderate, 4.1% severe) among Losers, compared to 11.4% (8.4% moderate, 3.0% severe) among the Unchanged and 9.2% (7.6% moderate, 1.6% severe) among Gainers.
Compared to December 2021, Hunger rose from 13.6% among Losers, and 11.1% among Unchanged. However, it fell from 9.9% among Gainers.
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