For many Filipinos, better days are yet to come.
More Filipinos have become optimistic about the quality of their lives in the past year, and expect it to get better in the next 12 months, a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released on Tuesday shows.
SWS said the net personal optimism score among Filipinos of all socioeconomic classes was “very high” after it reached a record-breaking +37, meaning 42 percent were optimistic that the quality of their lives would improve, while only five percent said it would be worse.
This was higher than the previous record of +36 in June 2010 when President Benigno Aquino III started his term. The recent data was also two notches up from the +35 recorded in December last year.
In personal net optimism, SWS classified scores of at least +30 as “very high,” +20 to +29 as “high,” +10 to +19 as “fair” and +1 to +9 as “mediocre.”
The survey also showed that 32 percent of Filipinos felt that their lives improved over the past 12 months, higher than the 28 percent who thought otherwise, yielding a “high” +6 net score.
SWS said this was the highest in 28 years since March 1987 when the Philippines recorded a “high” +11. It was also a significant improvement from the –1 recorded in December last year.
However, the survey found that Filipinos’ optimism toward the economy has declined by 10 points from the December 2014 data.
Twenty-seven percent of respondents said the economy would improve, while 20 percent said it would deteriorate, yielding a +6 net score. Although still categorized as “high,” this was one grade down from the “very high” +16 recorded in the previous data.
For sentiment on the economy, SWS considered scores of at least +10 as “very high,” +1 to +9 as “high,” zero to -9 as “fair,” -10 to -19 as “mediocre,” -20 to -29 as “low” and -30 and below as “very low.”
The survey was conducted from March 20 to 23 among 1,200 adult respondents nationwide, with an error of margin of three points for national percentages, and six points each for Metro Manila, “Balance of Luzon,” Visayas and Mindanao. RC
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SWS: More Filipinos optimistic quality of life, economy will improve