54% happy, 13% with no love life

MANILA, Philippines - Fewer Filipinos consider their love life to be happy even as the number of adults who have no love life slightly rose in 2012, a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

The SWS poll, conducted Dec. 8-11, 2012, found 54 percent of 1,200 adults saying they have a very happy (napakasaya) love life, five points lower than the all-time high 59 percent in December 2011.

Meanwhile, those who said they do not have a love life (walang love life o buhay-pag-ibig) rose from nine percent in 2011 to a record high 13 percent in 2012.

SWS said happiness with love life was at 58 percent in 2002 when the pollster first asked the question, but it fell to 46 percent in 2004. It bounced back to 55 percent in 2010 and rose further to 59 percent in 2011.

The SWS survey showed that more men are happier with their love life than women.

Fifty-eight percent of the men claim their love life is very happy, compared to 49 percent of the women who also have very happy love life.

Among men, only two out of five (43 percent) of the youth 18-24 are very happy with their love life, lower compared to majorities of the older men who are also very happy with their love life: 54 percent among those 25-34, 62 percent among 35-44, 63 percent among 45-54 and 60 percent among 55 and above.

About one-third (33 to 34 percent) of the men aged 25-44 wish that their love life could be happier, compared to one-fourth of the older men 45 years old (27 percent) and the youngest 18-24 group (27 percent) who share the same wish.

Nearly four in 10 or 36 percent of the women wish that their love life could be happier.

Only two out of five of the young women 18-24 (41 percent) and the oldest 55 and above (42 percent) are very happy with their love life, lower compared to women aged 25-34 (56 percent), 35-44 (54 percent), and 45-54 (49 percent).

About half (46 percent) of the women 18-24 years old said they could be happier with their love life, higher compared to all other age groups which ranged from 27 percent to 40 percent.

SWS said the percentages of those who do not have a love life are about the same among men (12 percent) and women (14 percent).

Notably, 31 percent of the men 18-24 years old said they do not have a love life, higher than the older age groups among men (ranging from five percent to 12 percent).

On the other hand, 31 percent of the women 55 and above do not have a love life, higher compared to the rest of the age groups which ranged from four percent to 15 percent.

Half or 50 percent of the single adults said they do not have a love life.

A little over half or 53 percent of the single women do not have a love life, slightly higher than the 46 percent of the single men who also do not have a love life.

The survey also found a majority or 78 percent of adult Filipinos who believe that “love cannot be planned and pursued, it just comes to a person,” while 22 percent believe that “love is planned and pursued until one finds it.”

The same survey showed that adults who are married or with live-in partners have happier love life than single Filipinos.

Sixty-three percent of married adults, and 54 percent of those with live-in partners, are very happy with their love life, compared to only 31 percent of those who are single.

Two-fifths (44 percent) of those with live-in partners wish their love life could be happier, higher compared to 36 percent among those married and 20 percent among singles.

Happiness with love life tends to be higher among married men (67 percent) than among married women (58 percent), the SWS noted.

Slightly more married women (40 percent) wish that their love life could be happier than married men (32 percent).

The survey said single men are happier with their love life than single women, 35 percent versus 26 percent.

The Fourth Quarter 2012 Social Weather Survey showed that more women believe “love just comes to a person” (84 percent) than men (72 percent).

Twenty-eight percent of men believe that love is planned and pursued until one finds it, compared to only 16 percent of the women who believe so.

Belief that love just comes to a person is stronger among men aged 35 and above (ranging from 73 percent to 75 percent), compared to younger men aged 18-34 (66 percent to 67 percent).

Belief that love is planned and pursued is slightly stronger among younger men aged 18-34 (33 percent to 34 percent) than among older aged men 35 and above (24 percent to 26 percent).

Among women, on the other hand, belief that love just comes to a person is slightly stronger among the younger 18-44 group (ranging from 87 percent to 88 percent), compared to those aged 45 and above (75 percent to 82 percent).

About one-fifth (18 percent to 25 percent) of women aged 45 and above believe that love is planned and pursued, higher than the 12 percent to 13 percent of women aged 44 and below who believe the same.

By civil status, 84 percent of those living-in with a partner believe that love just comes to a person, slightly higher than the 76 percent of those who are single and 77 percent of those who are married.

On the other hand, 23 percent of single and those who are married (24 percent) believe that love is planned and pursued, higher than the 16 percent among those with live-in partner who believe the same.

Among men, the belief that love just comes to a person is stronger among those who are living-in with partner (84 percent), compared to those who are married (71 percent) and those who are single (67 percent).

Also, there are slightly more among married men (33 percent) and single men (28 percent) who consider that love is planned and pursued until one finds it, compared to men with live-in partner (16 percent).

Among women, the percentages of those who believe that love just comes to a person are high and hardly vary regardless of their civil status, ranging from 83 percent to 84 percent.

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults in 3,000 households in Metro Manila, the balance of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

It has sampling error margins of plus or minus three percentage points for national percentages and plus or minus six percentage points for area percentages. 

Love in churches

Meanwhile, the rector of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, popularly known as Baclaran Church, said that the church is an ideal place to find lifetime partners.

Fr. Victorino Cueto yesterday said he had heard of the love stories of many of his parishioners that started in the church.

He added that some of the petitions and letters that they receive from the parishioners are also about wanting to find a lifetime partner.

“Usually every week it’s about three to five (requests) so that’s 16 to 20 in a month,” he said.

On the other hand, he said that some of these prayers are granted based on the thanksgiving letters that they receive.

“Baclaran is a place where one can pray... so whatever it is that you are asking from God through the Blessed Mother, whether it be financial, health or even a lifetime partner, are all welcome here,” Cueto said.

‘Valentoxic’ products

An environmental group has warned that several gift items on sale for Valentine’s Day are toxic products, and therefore harmful to health.

This was revealed by the EcoWaste Coalition’s Task Force on Chemical Safety during its recent test buys of common Valentine’s gifts and other romantic items from formal and informal retailers in Divisoria and Sta. Cruz, Manila.

The group screened 38 items using an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) device, all of which were fund to have high levels of multiple heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium, antimony, chromium and mercury.

Of the 38 samples, 76 percent (29 out of 38) tested positive for lead, 68 percent (26 out of 38) for arsenic, 61 percent (23 out of 38) for cadmium, 58 percent (22 out of 38) for antimony, 26 percent (10 out of 38) for chromium, and 10.5 percent (4 out of 38) for mercury. Among the most “Valentoxic” products tested were ceramic mugs, all of which were found laced with toxic metals above levels of concern.

Ironically, seven of these tainted mugs have license to operate (LTO) stickers, supposedly indicating compliance with required documentary and safety requirements.

“Our scientific findings show that some Valentine’s gifts, particularly mugs with heart and love theme, are laced with hazardous substances that may cause harm to the people we love,” said Thony Dizon of the EcoWaste Coalition’s Project Protect.

Traces of heavy metals were also detected in some samples of synthetic roses, stuffed hearts with saccharine messages, animal figurines and a shot glass.

Arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury are included in the World Health Organization (WHO)’s list of “Ten Chemicals of Major Public Health Concern” and are likewise categorized, along with chromium, in the “Priority Chemicals List” of the Philippines. – With Evelyn Macairan, Rhodina Villanueva