SWS: Record 96% of Filipinos to welcome New Year with hope

A vast majority of Filipinos are welcoming the New Year with hope, an SWS survey showed.  INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC

An “all-time high” 96% of Filipinos are welcoming 2018 with hope, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The survey, conducted December 8 to 16, showed a record high for Filipinos who were hopeful of what would come in the New Year, surpassing the previous records of 95% in 2002, 2011 and 2016.

Only 4% of Filipinos expressed fear of what the coming new year would bring, the SWS said, adding that this was one point below the 5% recorded in 2016.

The polling body noted that hope for the New Year has always been high, starting at 87% when SWS first surveyed it in 2000.

Luzon and Mindanao also posted “all-time” high scores of Filipinos who would welcome 2018 with hope, the SWS said.

Hope for the New Year was highest in Luzon at 97%, followed by Metro Manila at 96%, Mindanao at 95% and the Visayas also at 95%, according to the polling body.

Hopefulness for the New Year also remained high in all classes, with an all-time high 97% for Class D, and another all-time high 93% for Class E.

New Year hope also stayed widespread among classes ABC with 97% in 2017. It reached 100% in 2012, the SWS said.

Moreover, New Year hope among those who expected a happy Christmas is greater than New Year hope among those who expected a sad Christmas, the polling body said.

“Compared to last year, New Year hope rose by 2 points among those who expected a happy Christmas, from 96% in 2016 to 98% in 2017,” the SWS said.

“It fell by 4 points among those who expected a sad Christmas, from 92% in 2016 to 88% in 2017,” it added.

According to the SWS, the survey was conducted using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide, with 300 each in Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.

The survey has a margin of error of ±3% nationwide, ±4% for Luzon, and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Visayas and Mindanao, the SWS said. /cbb