NCR COVID-19 Survey 3: ECQ job loss affects 69% of households surveyed
MANILA – The results of the third run of the NCR COVID-19 Online Panel Survey conducted by PUBLiCUS Asia, Inc. in partnership with Kantar suggest that unemployment caused by the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila could be growing over time, even as the national government announced a second extension of the Metro Manila ECQ until May 30, 2020.
69.2% of the 1,000 Metro Manila residents aged 18-70 interviewed between May 5-8, 2020 reported that at least one member of their household had lost his or her job due to the ECQ. This is a 5.2% increase from the April 13-18, 2020 survey in which 64% reported ECQ-related job loss.
“The data suggest that incidence of unemployment caused by the ECQ may be growing among panel households as the duration of the ECQ is extended further,” said Mr. Aureli Sinsuat, PUBLiCUS Executive Director and spokesperson.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced on Tuesday that the ECQ in Metro Manila would be extended again up to May 30, 2020 in the form of a “Modified ECQ,” which would allow the reopening of certain industries in a limited capacity.
Sinsuat noted that lower income brackets may be significantly more likely to experience job loss due to the ECQ compared to more affluent panel households. 80.7% of survey respondents from Poor households and 81.48% of Low Income households reported that at least one member of their households had lost their job due to the ECQ.
The proportion of respondents who reported job loss in the household generally decreases as monthly household income increases, with only 25% of respondents from Rich households indicating that someone in their household is now unemployed due to the ECQ.
“The data suggest that underprivileged households may be significantly more susceptible to experiencing job loss under the ECQ. Hopefully, the limited return to work proposed under the Modified ECQ will improve employment figures and prevent the poor from becoming even poorer as the fight against COVID-19 rages on,” Sinsuat said.
NCR COVID-19 Online Panel Survey is an independent non-commissioned tracking survey designed by PUBLiCUS and VOX Opinion Research (VOX). The survey data was processed and analyzed by VOX, the in-house strategic research arm of PUBLiCUS.
The survey aims to gauge public opinion and perceptions on the following COVID-19-related key indicators: Living Standards and Needs during the Enhanced Community Quaratine; National Government Performance; Local Government Performance; Media and Foreign Institutions; Existing/Proposed COVID-19 Policies.
The online fieldwork for all three runs of the survey (April 2-6; April 13-18; May 5-8) was conducted in partnership with Kantar (formerly Lightspeed Research Singapore), which provided an online panel of 1,000 Metro Manila residents aged 18-70 from its pool of 100,000 Philippine panelists. The number of respondents per city was distributed proportionally based on official population data.
Kantar is a leading firm in the global data industry with a panel reach of 88 million respondents in 90 markets worldwide according to its website.
More information on the purposive sampling methodology and panel selection process of the NCR COVID-19 Online Panel Survey can be found here.
Reference: Mr. Aureli C. Sinsuat, PUBLiCUS Executive Director
Email: acsinsuat@publicusltd.com