49% of Filipinos remain optimistic about their quality of life — SWS poll

MANILA, PHILIPPINES — Almost half, or 49%, of Filipinos believe that their quality of life will improve in the next 12 months, according to a survey released by Social Weather Stations (SWS). 

However, 37% said their lives will stay the same in the next months and five per cent said that they would worsen. 

The nationwide poll — conducted between December 10 to 14, 2022 with 1,200 participants nationwide — shows that the Net Personal Optimism score in the country is +44, which is excellent. 

“The survey question on the respondents’ prediction of their quality-of-life change over the next 12 months has been fielded 147 times since April 1984,” SWS pointed out.

“Out of the 147 surveys, 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 agency added. 

SWS also stated 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.

Compared to October 2022, Net Personal Optimism rose from very high to excellent in Mindanao, up by 14 points from +34 to +48.

Net personal optimism among college graduates, junior high school graduates, and elementary graduates also came out “excellent,” while optimism among non-elementary graduates remains “very high.”