9 in 10 Filipinos upbeat about 2012, says survey

Only three out of 10 Filipinos believe this Christmas season will be more prosperous than last year but nearly nine in 10 are upbeat about the new year, according to a recent Pulse Asia survey.

The same survey showed that there are fewer Filipinos now, compared to last year, who believe a more prosperous Christmas awaits them.

The results, released Thursday, were part of the November 2011 Ulat ng Bayan national survey conducted by Pulse Asia.

According to the results, 52 percent of 1,200 respondents said their Christmas this year would be no different from last year. Thirty-two said it would be more prosperous while 15 percent said a poorer Christmas is in store for them.

A similar survey last year had said 39 percent believed their Christmas would be more prosperous.

In this year’s survey, big decreases were noted in the poorest Class E (28 percent this year from 42 percent last year) and the Visayas (31 percent from 55 percent).

Same as before

Pulse Asia asked the respondents to complete the statement, “For your family, the coming Christmas will be…” They were made to choose from “more prosperous than last year,” “the same as last year” and “poorer than last year.”

The noncommissioned survey conducted from Nov. 10 to 23 used face-to-face interviews and had an error margin of plus-minus 3 percentage points at the 95-percent confidence level.

Except in Mindanao, the majority of the respondents in all geographic areas (55 percent to 58 percent) and socioeconomic classes (52 percent to 56 percent) shared the national sentiment that this Christmas will be the same as last year.

In Mindanao, almost the same percentages said that their Christmas would be either the same (42 percent) or more prosperous (37 percent) while in Visayas, those who said their Christmas would be no different rose to 55 percent from 39 percent.

Facing 2012 with hope

Despite continuing economic difficulties, 88 percent said they looked forward to 2012 with hope—the same sentiment echoed by the majority across geographic areas (80 percent to 93 percent) and socioeconomic classes (85 percent to 89 percent).

The respondents were asked, “Will you face the coming year with…” They were made to choose from “with hope,” “with apprehension,” and “without hope and without apprehension.”

Six percent said they would welcome the new year “with apprehension.” Another 6 percent said they would welcome 2012 “without hope and without apprehension.”

The figures on the new year outlook at the national level and across geographic areas and socioeconomic classes, basically remained unchanged from last year, the poll showed. Ana Roa, Inquirer Research