SWS: Coronavirus pandemic brought ‘great stress’ to 55% of working-age Pinoys

FILE: ‘MANIC’ MONDAY. Commuters wait for public utility vehicles at the Marikina-Infanta Highway in Antipolo City, Rizal on Monday (June 1, 2020). Mass transportation, except for jeepneys, resumed operations at a limited capacity under a more relaxed general community quarantine in Metro Manila and other parts of the country. (PNA photo by Joey Razon)

Due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, more than half of the Philippine workforce experienced “great stress,” the latest survey released by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) on Friday, June 12, showed.

Among the 4,010 working-age Filipinos who took part in the pollster’s mobile phone survey, 55 percent of them were in “great stress,” while 34 percent of them experienced “much stress” due to the pandemic. The other 11 percent, meanwhile, said they felt “little” or “no stress” at all.

Of those in great stress, the survey showed that 68 percent of them were among the 16.7 percent or 4.4 million Filipinos who experienced involuntary hunger due to lack of food to eat in the past three months. It was when Luzon was placed under lockdown, which forced many businesses and establishments to temporarily close and put millions of Filipinos under strict home quarantine to prevent the spread of the virus.

The SWS added that 58 percent of those who felt great stress have jobs but were not receiving pay. Great stress was also experienced by 57 percent Filipinos who currently do not have a job but used to have one.

Stress, the pollster said, was higher in the Visayas, at 63 percent, compared to 58 percent recorded in Metro Manila, 55 percent in Mindanao, and 51 percent in Balance Luzon.

The survey also revealed that Filipinos living in areas that were placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and general community quarantine (GCQ) are “equally stressed,” with great stress at 55 percent in both areas.

The SWS said they based the classification of the ECQ and GCQ areas on Executive Order No. 112. According to the EO, the places under ECQ until May 15 were the National Capital Region (NCR), Central Luzon (except Aurora), CALABARZON, Benguet Province, Pangasinan Province, Iloilo Province, Cebu Province, Bacolod City, and Davao City. Areas that were not mentioned were classified under GCQ.

The latest survey was conducted last May 4 to 10 using a mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI). Two hundred ninety-four survey respondents were from the NCR, 1,645 from Balance Luzon, 792 in the Visayas, and 1,279 from Mindanao. It used sampling error margins of ±2 percent for national percentages, ±6 percent for Metro Manila, ±2 percent for Balance Luzon, ±3 percent for the Visayas, and ±3 percent for Mindanao.

Metro Manila has transitioned to a more relaxed GCQ since June 1, allowing some residents to head out and some businesses to open with safety measures in place.