Nearly half of adult Filipinos believe their quality of life will improve in the next 12 months, a recent poll from the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.
The SWS survey published Monday noted that 49 percent of adult Filipinos are hopeful their life will improve, while 37 percent believe it will stay the same.
Meanwhile, five percent believe their life will worsen, while eight percent did not give their answer.
The December 2022 Net Personal Optimism score was 4 points higher than the “excellent” +40 in October 2022 and is the highest since the pre-pandemic score of “excellent” +44 in December 2019, SWS added.
The Fourth Quarter 2022 Survey was conducted from December 10 to 14, 2022, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults aged 18 and above.
The survey’s error margins are ±2.8% for national percentages, ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
The 4-point increase in the national Net Personal Optimism score was due to an increase in Mindanao, which recorded a 14-point increase from a “very high” +34 in October 2022 to an “excellent” +48 in December 2022.
The optimism scores in other areas were almost the same, with Metro Manila, Balance Luzon and Visayas all recording a 1-point increase from the October 2022 results.
In terms of academic attainment, college graduates are among the most optimistic with an “excellent” +57 score, up by 5 points from +52 in October 2022.
The December 2022 survey also showed 34 percent of Filipinos saying their quality of life was better than 12 months ago, or “gainers”, while 26 percent said it got worse—termed “losers” by SWS.
Net Personal Optimism was still high among families who did not experience hunger in the past three months, with an “excellent” score of +44. Those who experienced hunger, on the other hand, recorded a +43 score, while those who experienced moderate hunger had a +45 score.
Compared to the October 2022 survey, Net Personal Optimism rose from +41 among those from Not Hungry families.
The survey, likewise, showed 51 percent of Filipinos rating themselves as “poor” or “mahirap”, while 31 percent said they are “borderline” poor. Another 19 percent consider themselves as “not poor” or “hindi mahirap”.
Optimism was highest in families who do not consider themselves as poor, with an “excellent” +52 score, while those who consider themselves borderline poor was at +49.