About half of Filipinos expect this Christmas season to be no different from last year, while almost nine in 10 - or 89 per cent - share a hopeful outlook for the new year, a Pulse Asia survey found.
The results are part of the October 2010 survey conducted from Oct. 20 to 29 using face-to-face interviews with 1,200 Filipino adults nationwide.
The polling outfit asked respondents to complete the statement, "For your family, the coming Christmas will be..." They were made to choose from among the following: "More prosperous than last year"; "the same as last year"; and "poorer than last year."
The sentiment that this Christmas will be the same as last year was manifested mostly in Metro Manila (65 percent) and Luzon outside Metro Manila (54 percent), followed by Mindanao (45 percent) and the Visayas (39 percent).
It is also a common sentiment among classes ABC (67 percent), D (50 percent) and E (46 percent).
Small majority
On the other hand, almost four in 10 Filipinos, or 39 per cent, said this Christmas season would be more prosperous than last year.
Only 11 percent of Filipinos consider their families poorer in this year's holiday season.
"Year-on-year, there is an increase in the percentage of Filipinos expecting a more prosperous Christmas season (plus 10 percentage points) and a decline in the percentage of those who are expecting otherwise (minus 11 percentage points)," Pulse Asia said.
Hopeful outlook
The respondents were also asked to complete the statement, "Will you face the coming year with..." They were given the following options: "with hope"; "with apprehension"; and "without hope and without apprehension."
Optimism prevails
Almost nine in 10 (89 percent) expressed a hopeful outlook. Less than one in 10 is either apprehensive (5 percent) or facing the coming year without hope and without apprehension (6 percent).
Optimism prevailed among huge majorities across geographic areas (87 percent to 93 percent) and socioeconomic classes (88 percent to 96 percent), a sentiment "generally unchanged year-on-year," Pulse Asia noted.
The noncommissioned survey has an error margin of plus-minus 3 percentage points at the 95-percent confidence level.
