Pinoys' optimism highest since June 2010; 32% say lives better now than a year ago

There are more optimistic Pinoys now than way back June 2010 and even farther back in March 1987, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey on how Filipinos feel about their lives now and how their quality of life might turn out to be in the next 12 months.

 

Personal optimism among Filipinos hit a record-high, with some 42 percent of Filipinos expecting their quality of life to improve in the next 12 months. Net personal optimism score was at +37 (42 percent optimists minus five percent pessimists), which the SWS said is “very high”.

 

The previous record high was +36 recorded in June 2010, the month President Benigno Aquino III began his term. Last December, net personal optimism was at +35 (41 percent optimists minus 6 percent pessimists).

 

Respondents were 1,200 adults nationwide and the survey has sampling error margins of three points for national percentages, and six points each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Results of the survey were first posted Tuesday on the website of SWS media partner, BusinessWorld.

 

The SWS considers personal optimism scores of at least +30 as “very high,” +20 to +29 as “high,” +10 to +19 (historical median and mode) as “fair,” +1 to +9 as “mediocre,” zero to -9 as “low,” and -10 and below as “very low.”

 

Survey respondents were not asked why they were optimistic or pessimistic, but the survey does query the respondents on whether or not their lives improved over the past 12 months and on how they feel about the country's economy.

 

The first-quarter survey showed 32 percent felt their lives improved (gainers) while 26 percent said they worsened (losers) in the last 12 months. This meant a “high” +6 net gainers score, or the difference between gainers and losers.

 

SWS said this was the highest in 28 years since March 1987, when it was a record-high very high +11. It is also a increase of seven points from the “fair” -1 (29 percent gainers minus 30 percent losers) in December 2014.

 

SWS first did the “quality of life” survey in April 1984 when Ferdinand Marcos was president.

Optimists usually outnumber the pessimists in this particular type of SWS survey.

There have been only five times when the pessimists dominated and those times were crisis times during the administrations of Marcos, Joseph Estrada, and Gloria Arroyo.

The economy
 

The optimism most Filipinos feel seems to only partly emanate from their perceptions about the economy.  According to the same survey 27 percent of respondents were optimistic the economy would improve while 20 percent felt it would deteriorate, or a "high" +6 net optimism about the economy.

 

Optimism about the economy was 10 points lower and one grade down from the “very high” +16 (31 percent optimistic minus 15 percent pessimistic about the economy) in December 2014.

 

As for net optimism about the economy, SWS considers “very high” scores of at least +10; +1 to +9 as “high”; zero to -9 as “fair”; -10 to -19 as “mediocre”; -20 to -29 as “low”; and -30 and below as “very low.”

 

It also noted that as far as net optimism about the economy, "the most common answers, historically speaking, have been highly negative.”  — Joel Locsin/ELR, GMA News