Less Than Half of Filipinos Expect Life to Improve: SWS

Nearly five in 10 Filipino adults believe that their quality of life will improve in the next 12 months as COVID-19 restrictions further eased in the second half of the year, results of a Social Weather Stations survey released Sunday showed.

Forty-six percent of 1,500 Filipino adults polled from June 26 to 29 said they were optimistic of the next 12 months, while 4% were pessimistic. Some 40% said their quality of life would remain the same, while the remaining 11% did not give an answer.

The June 2022 Net Personal Optimism score is +42, classified as "excellent" by SWS. That's 3 points above the "very high" +39 in April 2022 and just 2 points below the pre-pandemic level of "excellent" +44 in December 2019.

READ: 2.9 Million Filipino Families Experienced Hunger in June: SWS

Net personal optimism rose in Mindanao to +39 from +35 in April; Balance Luzon from +50 to +47; and Visayas to +27 from +27. It remained steady, however, in Metro Manila at "excellent" +43.

It also stayed "excellent" among those who either graduated from college or took post-graduate students; and among those who attended senior and junior high school and vocational school, both at +46. However, it fell to +28 from +33 among those who either had no formal education or some elementary education.

Net personal optimism is also higher among adults belonging to non-hungry families, at +43, compared to those who belong to families who experienced hunger in general over the past few months, at +35.

Adults belonging to families who rated themselves as not poor were also more optimistic, at +53, compared to those who are part self-rated poor households, at +47.

The survey was conducted just a few days before former President Rodrigo Duterte stepped down from power and before incumbent President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. assumed his post.

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