41% see no change post-Covid — SWS

Around four of ten Filipinos said their quality of life did not change during the previous 12 months, according to the Social Weather Stations survey results released on Saturday.

This group of respondents was followed by 30 percent who saw a perceptible change in their lives.

A close 29 percent believe their lives worsened over the past few years, and they even experienced hunger.

The survey conducted from 29 September to 2 November revealed that 41 percent of Filipino adults think their quality of life did not change for a year.

SWS asked survey participants: “Comparing your quality of life these days to how it was 12 months ago, would you say that your quality of life is better now, same as before, or worse than before?”

Daily Tribune solicited the views of the man on the street. Some said that they got poorer and their lives “worsened.” Some, indeed, experienced hunger.

Ric Villanueva, a former sales engineer, said he experienced involuntary hunger and not having anything to eat properly for the past three months.

“My life became harder after I lost my day job, and the prices of commodities even increased,” Villanueva said in Filipino.

He admitted that he could not save money when he had his day job as he was also paying some of his debts before.

Tough time for budgeting

Dianne Tejares, a content editor who owns a small business, told Daily Tribune that she had a rough time budgeting her hard-earned salary now because of inflation.

Tejares also talked about the devastating impact of the steep price increases on her livelihood, especially her business.

“While I am still blessed that I have something to eat, I think that the quality of life still worsened because I couldn’t save more now compared to before,” Tejares said.

She also felt guilty for not contributing more to her share in her household. According to Tejares, she was not able to give her share for the electricity bill in their house for November because she had to pay for her credit card bill, which also increased.

Despite their current situation, both Villanueva and Tejares expressed hopes that their quality of life will improve by next year.

The survey resulted in a zero net gain (computed by subtracting the percentage of losers from gainers), which SWS categorized as “fair.”

According to SWS, the score represents a slight increase over the fair -2 net gainer score between June and April 2022.