MANILA, Philippines – Even as the country grapples with rising food costs and high inflation, almost one in every two Filipinos said life will get better in 2023, according to a Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.
The December 2022 survey of the social research institute found that 49% of Filipinos were optimistic that their life would improve in the next 12 months.
A total of 37% found it would stay the same (“no change”), and 5% said it would worsen (“pessimists”) in the next 12 months.
The survey asked respondents: “Sa inyong opinyon, ano ang magiging uri ng inyong pamumuhay sa darating na 12 buwan? Masasabi ba ninyo na ang uri ng inyong pamumuhay ay bubuti, kapareho lang, o sasama?”
(In your opinion, what will be the quality of your life in the coming 12 months? Would you say that your quality of life will be better, same, or will it be worse?)
The SWS classified the overall results as a Net Personal Optimism score of +44 (“excellent”).
With the exception of Mindanao, levels of optimism were nearly the same in all regions compared to the previous survey taken in October 2022.
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 stayed excellent in Metro Manila, only dropping slightly from +50 to +49. It stayed excellent in Balance Luzon, moving up by one point from +42 to +43. It stayed very high in the Visayas, from +36 to +37.
Similarly, in another recent SWS survey rating the quality of life, respondents in Mindanao also felt their quality of life had dramatically improved in the last quarter of 2022.
However, the December 2022 SWS survey found that optimism was lower among severely hungry families.
Net Personal Optimism among adults who belonged to families who did not experience hunger was at excellent levels at +44.
Meanwhile, it was at +42 among families who experienced hunger in general, +45 among those who experienced moderate hunger, and +29 among families who experienced severe hunger.
College graduates were the most optimistic for the coming year with an “excellent” +57 score. This is higher by 5 points from +52 from the October 2022 survey.
According to the SWS, 11.8% of Filipino families, or an estimated 3 million, experienced involuntary hunger – defined as being hungry and not have anything to eat – at least once in the past three months.
The Fourth Quarter 2022 Social Weather Survey was conducted from December 10-14, 2022, using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults (18 years old and above) nationwide: 300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
The survey’s error margins are ±2.8% for the national poll and ±5.7% in each region surveyed.
At the end of 2022, polling firm Pulse Asia released its fourth quarter survey results in December that found almost all Filipinos, or 95%, were hopeful for the New Year. (READ: Almost all Filipinos hopeful for 2023) – Rappler.com
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