COVID-19 crisis brings ‘great stress’ to 51% of Filipinos, ‘much stress’ to 35% — SWS

Based on the SWS’s July National Phone Survey, the crisis caused by the deadly virus brought “great stress” to 51 percent of Filipinos and “much stress” to 35 percent of them. (Pexels file photo)

The new Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released on Saturday, July 25, showed that most Filipinos were experiencing stress because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which the country continues to fight.

Based on the SWS’s July National Phone Survey, the crisis caused by the deadly virus brought “great stress” to 51 percent of Filipinos and “much stress” to 35 percent of them.

The other 14 percent felt “little” or “no stress” because of it.

The latest figure of those who were in great stress decreased “slightly” from 55 percent in May, while those who experienced much stress “hardly changed” from May’s 34 percent.

Meanwhile, Filipinos who felt little or no stress from the crisis increased by three percentage points from 11 percent in May.

The pollster found out that 62 percent of those who experienced great stress were the ones who suffered from “involuntary hunger” in the past three months.

It reported on Tuesday, July 21, that 20.9 percent or an estimated 5.2 million Filipino families went hungry because they lack food to eat. This hunger rate is the “highest” since the record of 22.0 percent in September 2014.

[READ: SWS survey shows 5.2-M Filipinos go hungry at least once in past 3 months]

Also among those who felt great stress during pandemic were 55 percent of Filipinos who “do not have a job but used to have one” and those who “never had a job.”

Stress was highest in Metro Manila and Visayas, with 56 percent each, while it was only at 49 percent in Balance Luzon and 46 percent in Mindanao.

The pollster asked 1,555 respondents nationwide the question, “Gaano kalaki ang stress na idinudulot ng krisis sa COVID-19 sa inyong buhay ngayon? Ang stress bang idinudulot nito ay… Napakalaki, Medyo malaki, Maliit, Halos wala (How much stress does the COVID-19 crisis cause in your life right now? Is the stress caused by this… Great, Much, A little, None)?” through mobile phone and computer-assisted telephone interview. The conduct of the survey began on July 3 and finished on July 6.

The SWS used sampling error margins of plus-minus two percent for national percentages, plus-minus six percent for Metro Manila, plus-minus five percent for Balance Luzon, plus-minus five percent for the Visayas, and five percent for Mindanao.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque earlier said they were “saddened” over the SWS survey about Filipinos who experienced hunger, saying that the poll result “underscores the importance of opening the economy and providing livelihood opportunities to our people.”