SWS: Filipinos’ net personal optimism lowest since Sept. 2021

The net personal optimism of Filipinos for the next 12 months declined to the lowest level in over a year in March as optimists declined while pessimists grew, according to the results of a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) released on Thursday.
 
The net personal optimism score, computed as the percentage of optimists less the percentage of pessimists, stood at +38 in March, equivalent to a classification of “very high.”
 
This is lower than the +44 in December 2022, classified as “excellent,” and the weakest since September 2021, when the net optimism score stood at +26, or “high.”
 
This comes as 45% of the survey respondents said they expect a positive change in their quality of life in the next 12 months, down from 49% in December.
 
Forty-two percent said it would remain the same, while 6% expected a worse situation, higher than the 5% recorded in the previous survey period. The remaining 7% did not give an answer.
 
Net personal optimism decreased in all areas — to +45 from +49 in Metro Manila, to +37 from +43 in Balance Luzon, to +27 from +37 in the Visayas, and to +47 from +48 in Mindanao.
 
The same trend was seen across education, as the score fell to +45 for those who either graduated from college or took post-graduate studies, to +42 for those who graduated or took high school or vocational school, to +35 for those who either finished elementary school or had some high school education, and to +28 for those who either had no formal education or some elementary education.
 
Net personal optimism declined across sectors and was the lowest for those who experienced severe hunger in the past three months at +12.
 
The score stood at +36 for those who belong to families that experienced moderate hunger, +33 among those in families that experienced hunger in general, and +39 for adults in families that did not experience hunger.
 
It also declined to +32 for those who belong to families who consider themselves poor, to +42 for those in families who consider themselves borderline poor, and to +50 for those in families who consider themselves not poor.
 
The latest survey was conducted from March 27 to 29, 2023, using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults—300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.
 
The sampling error margins are ±2.8% for national percentages, and ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao.  — VBL, GMA Integrated News