Pinoys most thankful for good health – poll

MANILA, Philippines — Being in good health is something more than half of Filipinos feel most thankful for this year, a recent survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

Results of the Dec. 8 to 11 survey released yesterday found that 51 percent of the respondents are grateful for being healthy this year, which saw the rapid easing of pandemic-era health restrictions.

The respondents were asked “what one or two things (they are) most thankful for.”

Twenty-nine percent of the respondents said they were thankful for their family and 16 percent for being alive.

Other responses were job, career or income (10 percent), having food to eat (eight percent), coping with daily hardships (eight percent), all blessings (three percent), education (three percent), peace and safety (three percent) and God (two percent).

Obtaining one percent or less were those related to lovelife, vehicles, surviving an illness or injury, having no worries or problems, having material things and being able to help others.

Like last year, 73 percent of the survey respondents said they expect to have a happy Christmas this year.

It was 23 points above the record-low 50 percent obtained at the height of the pandemic in 2020, but is still six points below the pre-pandemic level of 79 percent in 2019.

Meanwhile, six percent said they expect a sad Christmas this year, almost similar to the seven percent obtained in 2022.

The remaining 21 percent said they expect neither a sad or happy Christmas, up from 19 percent last year.

“The expectation of a sad Christmas was customarily at single-digit levels, ranging from two percent to nine percent. It reached double-digits only in 2004, 2009, 2011 and 2020, ranging from 10 percent to 15 percent,” SWS said.

Based on the survey, expectation of a happy Christmas hardly moved across areas.

It was highest among respondents in the Visayas at 78 percent (same as last year), followed by those in Mindanao at 74 percent (from 75 percent), Metro Manila at 72 percent (from 71 percent) and the rest of Luzon at 70 percent (from 71 percent).

By educational attainment, it was highest among high school and college graduates at 75 percent (both from 74 percent), followed by elementary graduates at 71 percent (from 73 percent) and non-elementary graduates at 64 percent (from 68 percent).

The survey had 1,200 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus 2.8 percent for national percentages.