Over a third of Filipinos are optimistic that their quality of life will get better in the next 12 months, according to a non-commissioned Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released on Wednesday, Oct. 27.
The Third Quarter 2021 SWS survey was conducted from Sept. 12 to 16 using face-to-face interviews of 1,200 Filipino adults nationwide.
The survey results showed that 33 percent of the respondents believe their quality of life will improve, 45 percent said it will stay the same, and 7 percent think it will worsen.
The remaining 14 percent did not give an answer.
SWS used the term "optimists" for those who believe their quality of life will improve, "pessimists" for those who think their quality of life will worsen, and "no change" for those who said it will stay the same.
The resulting "net personal optimism" score is +26 (percentage of optimists minus percentage of pessimists), classified by SWS as "high."
SWS said the September 2021 net personal optimism score is four points below the "very high" +30 in June 2021.
"It is similar to the high +24 in May 2021 but 9 points below the very high +35 in November 2020," it said in a statement.
"Still, the last four surveys show the continuing recovery from the historic lows of -19 in May 2020 and -10 in July 2020," it added.
The grade "excellent" is applied to net personal optimism scores at +40 or more; "very high" to scores between +30 and +39; "high" to scores between +20 and +29; "fair" to scores between +10 and +19; "mediocre" to scores between +1 to +9; "low" to scores between –9 and net zero; and "very low" to scores at –10 and below.
Net optimism falls in Luzon, rises in VisMin
SWS noted that the four-point decline in the national net personal optimism score from June 2021 to September 2021 is due to the 10-point drop in both Metro Manila and Balance Luzon, or Luzon outside Metro Manila, combined with increases of six points Mindanao and three points in the Visayas.
"Compared to June 2021, Net Personal Optimism fell from very high to high in Metro Manila, down by 10 points from +34 to +24," the pollster said.
SWS noted that it also fell from very high to high in Balance Luzon, down by 10 points from +38 to +28.
However, it said that it rose from high to very high in Mindanao, up by six points from +24 to +30.
Meanwhile, it stayed fair in the Visayas, although up by three points from +15 to +18.
Net personal optimism higher among 'gainers' than 'losers'
In the SWS survey results released Tuesday, Oct. 26, it showed that 57 percent of the respondents believe their quality of life got worse, 13 percent said it got better, and 29 percent said it was the same compared to a year ago.
SWS used the term "losers" for those who believe their quality of life got worse, "gainers" for those who think their quality of life got better, and "unchanged" for those who said it was the same.
"Net Personal Optimism (percentage of optimists minus percentage of pessimists) is higher among gainers (excellent +52) than among the unchanged (very high +32) and losers (fair +18)," SWS noted.
It added that in all surveys from 2019 to 2021, net personal optimism has been higher among gainers than among losers and the unchanged.
Meanwhile, SWS said the scores among the unchanged have been slightly higher than among the losers except in May, July, and September 2020, when the gap widened.
The survey question on the respondents' prediction of their quality of life change over the next 12 months has been fielded 142 times since April 1984.