The national Social Weather Survey of April 19-27, 2022 found 44% of adult Filipinos saying their quality-of-life will improve (termed by SWS as “Optimists”), 39% saying it will stay the same (“No Change”), and 4% saying it will worsen (“Pessimists”), in the next 12 months. The remaining 13% did not give an answer.
The resulting Net Personal Optimism score is +39 (% Optimists minus % Pessimists, correctly rounded), classified by SWS as very high (+30 to +39).
The April 2022 Net Personal Optimism score is 3 points below the excellent +42 in December 2021 and 5 points below the pre-pandemic level of excellent +44 in December 2019.
The survey question on the respondents’ prediction of their quality-of-life change over the next 12 months has been fielded 144 times since April 1984. Out of the 144 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 but still has not reached pre-pandemic levels.
Net Personal Optimism falls in Mindanao and Metro Manila
The 3-point decline in the national Net Personal Optimism score from December 2021 to April 2022 was due to the decreases in Mindanao and Metro Manila, combined with an increase in the Visayas and a steady score in Balance Luzon.
Compared to December 2021, Net Personal Optimism fell from excellent to very high in Mindanao, down by 11 points from +46 to +35.
It stayed excellent in Metro Manila, although down by 4 points from +47 to +43.
It stayed high in the Visayas, although up by 5 points from +20 to +25.
It stayed excellent in Balance Luzon, hardly moving from +48 to +47.
SWS: 44% of adult Filipinos say their Quality-of-Life will improve in next 12 months
Net Personal Optimism falls slightly among elementary graduates and college graduates
Compared to December 2021, Net Personal Optimism rose from high to very high among those who either had no formal education or some elementary education, up by 4 points from +29 to +33.
It stayed very high among those who either finished elementary or had some high school education, although down by 5 points from +35 to +30.
It stayed excellent among those who either finished junior high school, had some vocational schooling, had some senior high school, finished senior high school, completed vocational school, or attended some college, hardly moving from +46 to +45.
It also stayed excellent among those who either graduated from college or took post-graduate studies, although down by 5 points from +55 to +50.
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