SWS: 49% of Filipinos say quality of life will improve in 2023

At least 49 percent of Filipinos believe their quality of life will improve in the next 12 months (“optimists”), according to a nationwide survey of the Social Weather Stations (SWS).

The survey conducted on December 10 to 14, 2022 also found 37 percent of the respondents saying it will stay the same, five percent (“pessimists”) predicting it will worsen, while eight percent did not given an answer.

The resulting “net personal optimism” (percentage of optimists minus pessimists) of 44 percent is four points higher than the 40 percent in October 2022 and the highest since the pre-pandemic score of 44 percent in December 2019, the polling firm said.

“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 said.

“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,” it added.

The Fourth Quarter 2022 Social Weather Survey was conducted 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 sampling error margins are ±2.8% for national percentages, ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

According to SWS, the four-point increase in the national net personal optimism score between October and December 2022 was due to an increase in Mindanao, together with the steady scores in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, and the Visayas.

Net personal optimism rose from very high to excellent in Mindanao, up by 14 points from +34 to +48.

It hardly moved in Metro Manila, +50 to +49; in Balance Luzon, from +42 to +43; and in the Visayas, +36 to +37.

Net personal optimism was also excellent among college graduates, junior high school graduates, and elementary graduates, and very high among non-elementary graduates.—LDF, GMA Integrated News