SWS: Fewer Filipinos expect life, economy to improve in 2018

By CNN Philippines Staff, May 24, 2018

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 23) — While optimism remains “excellent” in personal and economic prospects, less Filipinos see a brighter future ahead of them during the first quarter of 2018, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

In a non-commissioned poll conducted from March 23-27, 2018, SWS asked 1,200 adults across the nation about their outlook on their personal quality of life and optimism about the Philippine economy.

Net optimism about the economy remains “excellent” but posted a 12-point decrease to 31 this March 2018 from the 43 points posted in December last year.

The independent pollster attributed this to a region-wide decline in optimism in the nation’s economic prospects.

Net optimism about the economy stayed “excellent” in all regions, but slid by 17 points in Mindanao to a score of 43, down by 12 points in Balance Luzon to a score of 28, down by 8 points in Metro Manila to a score of 28, and down by 7 points in the Visayas to a score of 23 in March 2018.

Filipinos from the upper socioeconomic classes of ABC and are slightly more optimistic about the economy, posting a score of 35 in March 2018, up by 4 points since the last poll. While it remained “excellent” in socioeconomic classes D (or the “masa”) and E, it slid by 11 points to 32 in the former and 17 points to 24 in the latter.

Meanwhile, forty-six percent of Filipinos reported that they are optimistic their lives will be better in the coming twelve months, while six percent expect the coming months to be worse, leading to a net personal optimism score of 40, which SWS rates as “excellent.”

This is six points lower than the net personal optimism recorded during the last survey session, which was in December 2017. Net personal optimism that quarter was at a record high of 46 points.

The SWS reported that while net personal optimism remained “excellent” to “very good” all across the nation, only Mindanao’s ratings stayed the same at 50 points from the last quarter when the survey was conducted. Personal optimism in Balance Luzon slid by 5 points to a still “excellent” rating. It slipped by one grade to “very high” in Metro Manila, down by 12 points to a 37 score. It stayed at “very high” in the Visayas despite slipping by 8 points to a score of 31.

The net personal optimism of Class D remained “excellent”, sliding by a mere 5 points from the last quarter to 42. It also stayed “excellent” in the more affluent socioeconomic classes of ABC, but down by 17 points to 42 in March 2018. It stayed “very high” in the less fortunate Class E, sliding by a mere 2 points to a 31 score for the first quarter.

SWS has a margin of error of ±3% for national percentages, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The pollster conducted face-to-face surveys with 300 adults age 18 and above from each region, to a total of 1,200 respondents.

Inflation breached the three-year high in February of this year, which falls within the period of the survey. Also within the survey period is the implementation of the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) law, which lowered personal income taxes while implementing higher taxes on fuel, alcohol, tobacco, and luxury vehicles.

This survey does not reflect the period when inflation breached the five year high mark in April, when the the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) announced the first quarter gross domestic product of 6.8 percent , when NEDA announced lower unemployment rates, and when the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas hiked interest rates.