The national Social Weather Survey of December 12-16, 2021 found 45% of adult Filipinos saying their quality-of-life will improve (termed by SWS as “Optimists”), 42% saying it will stay the same (“No Change”), and 3% saying it will worsen (“Pessimists”), in the next 12 months. The remaining 9% did not give an answer.
The resulting Net Personal Optimism score is +42 (% Optimists minus % Pessimists), classified by SWS as excellent (+40 and up).
The December 2021 Net Personal Optimism score is 16 points above the high +26 in September 2021, and the highest since 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 143 times since April 1984.
Net Personal Optimism rises in all areas
The 16-point rise in the national Net Personal Optimism score from September 2021 to December 2021 is due to the increases in all areas, especially in Metro Manila.
Compared to September 2021, Net Personal Optimism rose from high to excellent in Metro Manila, up by 24 points from +24 to +47.
It also rose from high to excellent in Balance Luzon, up by 19 points from +28 to +48.
It rose from very high to excellent in Mindanao, up by 16 points from +30 to +46.
It rose from fair to high in the Visayas, up by 2 points from +18 to +20.
SWS: 45% of Pinoys believe quality of life will improve in 2022
Net Personal Optimism rises with education: it is highest among college graduates (+55), followed by junior high school graduates (+46), elementary graduates (+35), and non-elementary graduates (+29).
Compared to September 2021, Net Personal Optimism rose from very high to excellent among college graduates, up by 19 points from +36 to +55.
It rose from high to excellent among junior high school graduates, up by 17 points from +29 to +46.
It rose from fair to very high among elementary graduates, up by 18 points from +17 to +35.
It stayed high among non-elementary graduates, although up by 3 points from +26 to +29.
Higher Net Personal Optimism among Gainers than Losers
The December 2021 survey found 40% saying their quality-of-life got worse (termed by SWS as “Losers”), 24% saying it got better (“Gainers”), and 36% saying it was the same (“Unchanged”), compared to a year ago (“Fourth Quarter 2021 Social Weather Survey: 40% of adult Filipinos got worse off in the past 12 months,” 6 March 2022, www.sws.org.ph).
Net Personal Optimism (% Optimists minus % Pessimists) is higher among Gainers (excellent +58) than among the Unchanged (very high +39) and Losers (very high +36) [Chart 5].
In all surveys from 2019 to 2021, Net Personal Optimism has been higher among Gainers than among Losers and the Unchanged.
On the other hand, the scores among the Unchanged have been slightly higher than among the Losers except in May, July, and September 2020, when the gap widened.
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