Majority of Dabawenyos in the congressional districts of Davao City feel the need for additional income given their current financial situation affected by the Coronavirus pandemic raging for more than a year now.
This was one of the findings of the University of Mindanao Institute of Popular Opinion (IPO) online survey from June 15 to 22. The survey also intended to determine whether Dabawenyos practice financially sound strategies to survive or withstand the crippling effects of the pandemic on their daily household life. The survey was done online since physical contact was not allowed during the time of conduct of the survey. The IPO relied heavily on online targeted survey of Facebook users who are residents of Davao City, at least 20 years old, and are targeted for contact with the defined geographical radius. A total of 1,200 respondents were contacted in random and systematically targeted.
Included in the survey were 48.2 percent millennials or Generation Y (between 25 and 40 years old), 31.5 percent Generation Z (20 to 24 years old), 14.7 percent Generation X (born from early 1960s to late 1970s), and 5.5 percent baby boomers (57-75 years old).
Some of the findings included
–8 of 10 respondents (78.8 percent) claimed that definitely they need additional income;
–5 of 10 (56.6 percent) said that the current financial situation is still manageable;
–3 of 10 (36.2 percent) admitted it is a struggle from time to time;
–5 of 10 respondents (51.9 percent) stated that their household’s financial situation for the next three months is still manageable;
–5 of 10 respsondents (55.8 percent) can still manage paying bills in the next three months;
–3 of 10 (30 percent) admitted having no savings to use; and
–3 of 10 respondents (33 percent) have levels of anxiety about their finances.
Dabawenyos were asked about their personal and household economic situation. Notably, 6 of 10 Dabawenyos surveyed were employed at the time of survey while 1 of 10 were self-employed. In addition, 17.6 percent of the respondents reported unemployment with no income source, while a fair few are either unemployed with income from business and investments or unemployed with monthly pension.
Asked if there is a need for additional income at this time, 78.8 percent (almost 8 of 10) claimed of a definite need, followed by 2 of 10 (16.7 percent) who said otherwise yet stating that having an additional income is not a bad idea.
On the other hand, 56.5 percent of the Dabawenyos reported that their and their household’s current financial situation is still manageable and 4.2 percent declared no difficulty, yet 36.2 percent percent remarked that it a struggle from time to time. Additionally, 51.9 percent (or 5 of 10 Dabawenyos) stated that their households’ financial situation for the next three months is still manageable, 55.8 percent can still manage meeting bills and credit card commitments, and 51.7 percent can still manage to settle their bills in the next three months given their current financial situation.
Meanwhile, 3 of 10 Dabawenyos see their households to struggle financially from time to time to meet their obligations, bills, and daily necessities. This is further reinforced by the finding that nearly 5 of 10 (46.5 percent) Dabawenyos ended using their personal or household savings to meet both ends, and nearly 3 of 10 admitted having no savings to use.
Finally, respondents were asked about their behavior about their economic and financial situation at this time. Results revealed that 3 of 10 (33.2 percent) have fair levels of anxiety brought about by their finances, while a lot of Dabawenyos have mixed opinion when asked if they are on track to retire with an ideal retirement lifestyle. Likewise, 25.6 percent reported that they do not have any trouble paying off loans and 27 percent do not prefer paying minimum amount for their loans. What is more, nearly half of the respondents prefer not to spend beyond their means to keep up with their peers (47.6 percent) or borrow money from friends and relatives (46.6 percent).
However, 3 of 10 (30.7 percent) found difficulty to save at least 10 percent of their income as savings, 3 of 10 (34.6 percent) do not have enough funds to sustain themselves financially if they go jobless, and nearly the same number (34.2 percent) have not accumulated funds for their dependents that could be used for 12 months if they pass on. A further crosstabulation of these measures revealed that millennials (born 1981 to 1996 and the most predominant in the survey) are the most anxious in terms of their financial standing, with only a fair level of preparedness to retirement, and lesser propensity to save for future needs.
