MANILA, Philippines — More Filipinos, or 49 percent, believe that their quality of life will improve in the next 12 months, according to the results of the latest survey from the Social Weather Stations (SWS).
Based on the latest SWS survey conducted from Dec. 10 to 14, 49 percent of Filipinos expect their quality of life to improve in the next 12 months.
“The December 2022 Net Personal Optimism score was 4 points above the excellent +40 in October 2022 and the highest since the pre-pandemic score of excellent +44 in December 2019,” said SWS.
Meanwhile, 37 percent said their quality of life will remain the same, while five percent expect theirs to worsen.
“Out of the 147 surveys [since April 1984], the Net Personal Optimism score was negative only 11 times, reaching a historic low of -19 in May 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. It has since trended back upwards to pre-pandemic levels,” the SWS noted.
The survey showed that the four-point increase in the national Net Personal Optimism score between October 2022 to December was due to an increase in Mindanao, combined with steady scores in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila), and the Visayas.
Net personal optimism in Mindanao rose from +34 to +48, Balance Luzon from +42 to +43 and Visayas from +36 to +37. Metro Manila, on the other hand, slightly decreased from +50 to +49.
The survey also showed a decrease in Net Personal Optimism among those who either graduated from college or post-graduate studies from +57 to +52, but noted that it remained in “excellent” levels.
It then rose among those who either finished high school or attended some college, from +44 to +46, as well as those who either finished elementary or had some high school education, from +33 to +40.
It also rose among those with no formal education or some elementary education from +30 to +35.
This survey was conducted through face-to-face interviews among 1,200 adult Filipino respondents — 3,000 each from Balance Luzon, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao — with sampling error margins of ±2.8 percent for national percentages and ±5.7 percent each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.