Only 44 percent or less than half of the Philippine population thinks their quality of life will improve in the next 12 months, according to the latest Social Weather Stations survey.
The first to be done with face-to-face interviews since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the SWS survey found four in ten of adult Filipinos saying their quality of life will improve, with 36% saying it will stay the same and 9% saying it will worsen in the next 12 months.
The SWS said the net personal optimism score is “very high” at +35, which is 33 points up from the mediocre +2 in September 2020, and a continued recovery from historic lows of -19 in May 2020 and -10 in July 2020.
It noted that the survey question on the quality of life trend in the next 12 months has been fielded 139 times since April 1984.
“The 33-point recovery in the national net personal optimism score is due to increases in all areas from September 2020: 48 points in Mindanao, 39 points in the Visayas, 27 points in Balance Luzon, and 25 points in Metro Manila,” SWS said .
The pollster said in November 2020, Mindanao recorded the highest net personal optimism at +40, followed by Balance Luzon at +39, Metro Manila at +30, and the Visayas at +25.
The survey also found out that net personal optimism is higher among those “gainers” or those whose lives got better last year with +52, than among those “losers” or those whose quality of lives declined a year ago with +32.
It also noted that net personal optimism is very high at +36 among adults who belong to families who consider themselves as “not poor.”
“Similarly, the score is very high among the self-rated poor at +31. Meanwhile, among those at the borderline, the score is excellent +42,” it said.
The Fourth Quarter 2020 Social Weather Survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,500 adults aged 18-years-old and above nationwide. Of those who were interviewed, 600 came from Balance Luzon and 300 each from Metro Manila, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The survey’s sampling error margins are ±2.5% for national percentages, ±4% for Balance Luzon, and ±6% for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.