SWS: Most Pinoys expect a happy Christmas

MANILA, Philippines - Six out of 10 adult Filipinos expect a happy Christmas this year, the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey showed.

The SWS poll, taken from Dec. 3 to 7, found 64 percent of Filipinos expecting a happy Christmas while 11 percent expect it to be sad, and 24 percent say their Christmas will be neither happy nor sad.

While a majority of Filipinos still expect a happy Christmas this year, the number of them saying so has gone down by five points from 69 percent last year, the SWS said.

Expectations of a sad Christmas also increased by four points from seven percent in 2010 to 11 percent this year.

“This surpassed the all-time high sadness level of 10 percent posted in 2004 and 2009,” the SWS said in a statement.

In 2002 and 2003, the SWS said only three to four percent reported having a sad Christmas, and then the figure increased to 10 percent in 2004. From 2005 to 2008, sadness with Christmas remained unchanged at seven to eight percent level, and slightly increased to 10 percent again in 2010.

Starting 2004, the percentage of adult Filipinos expecting a happy Christmas has been in the sixties: 64 percent in 2004, 62 percent in both 2005 and 2006, 64 percent in 2007, 63 percent in 2008, and 64 percent in 2009, it said.

SWS first surveyed expectations about Christmas-to-come in the fourth quarter of 2002, and found a high of 82 percent expecting it to be happy. The percentage declined to 77 percent in 2003, and then fell to the sixties in the next six years.

Expectations of a happy Christmas are highest in Mindanao with 69 percent, compared to 64 percent in balance Luzon, 61 percent in the Visayas and 60 percent in Metro Manila.

Compared to last year, those expecting a happy Christmas in 2011 rose but remained lowest in Metro Manila. Expectations of a happy Christmas declined in other areas.

In Metro Manila, the 60 percent expecting a happy Christmas in 2011 increased by five points from 55 percent in 2010. Those expecting a sad Christmas in 2011, however, increased from 11 percent to 14 percent.

In balance Luzon, expectations of a happy Christmas declined from 70 percent last year to 64 percent in 2011. Sadness with Christmas in balance Luzon, on the other hand, doubled from five percent in 2010 to 10 percent in 2011.

In Visayas, expectations of a happy Christmas declined by 12 points from 73 percent in 2010 to 61 percent in 2011. Expectations of a sad Christmas in Visayas rose from only six percent in 2010 to 15 percent in 2011.

In Mindanao, the 69 percent expecting a happy Christmas in 2011 is a slight decline from 71 percent in 2010.

Those expecting a sad Christmas in Mindanao slightly increased from seven percent to 10 percent.

SWS said expectations of a happy Christmas was highest among upper-to-middle classes ABC with 74 percent than the “masa” or class D (65 percent) and very poor class E (60 percent).

Compared to 2010, expectations of a happy 2011 Christmas increased among classes ABC but declined among classes D and E.

Among classes ABC, the 74 percent expecting a happy Christmas in 2011 increased by nine points from 65 percent in 2010. Those expecting a sad Christmas, however, increased from zero percent in 2010 to six percent this year.

Among class D, expectations of a happy Christmas declined by five points, from 70 percent in 2010 to 65 percent in 2011. Expectations of a sad Christmas slightly increased from seven percent to 10 percent.

Among class E, expectations of a happy Christmas dropped by seven points, from 67 percent in 2010 to 60 percent in 2011. At the same time, expectations of a sad Christmas doubled from eight percent in 2010 to 16 percent in 2011.

Money, good health

The December 2011 survey also found 52 percent of Filipinos saying they would like to receive material rather than non-material gifts this Christmas.

Out of the 52 percent who would like to have material gifts, 23 percent prefer money as Christmas present, while 17 percent would like good health and 13 percent would like their family to be together this Christmas.

The SWS asked the respondents: “What is the most liked gift that you want to receive this coming Christmas?”

Fifty-two percent mentioned material gifts, topped by money (23 percent), followed in distant second by food, e.g. food for noche buena (eight percent) and a house/house and lot (six percent).

Thirty-three percent, on the other hand, mentioned non-material things as the Christmas gift they most would like to receive. The top responses are good health (17 percent) and that their family will be together this Christmas (13 percent).

SWS said this was the first time it asked this question and respondents were allowed to give only one answer.

By area, the proportions of those who say they most would like to receive money for Christmas are slightly higher in balance Luzon (26 percent), Visayas (25 percent) and Metro Manila (21 percent) compared to Mindanao (16 percent).

In Metro Manila, money (21 percent) and family togetherness this Christmas (18 percent) are the most liked Christmas gifts to receive, closely followed by good health (16 percent).

In balance Luzon, money is cited by 26 percent, followed in second by the 15 percent who mentioned family togetherness this Christmas and 13 percent good health.

In Visayas, money is cited by 25 percent, closely followed by good health (21 percent).

In Mindanao, however, 24 percent say they would most like to receive good health for Christmas, followed by the 16 percent who mentioned money.

Those who say they would most like to receive money are about the same across socio-economic classes.

Among classes ABC, money and good health are the top responses with 20 percent and 19 percent, respectively, followed by family togetherness this Christmas, 12 percent.

Money (24 percent) is the most cited Christmas gift the class D would like to receive, followed by good health (17 percent) and family togetherness (14 percent).

Among class E, money and good health are also the top responses with 21 percent and 18 percent, respectively.

Expectations of a happy Christmas in 2011 are about the same among men (65 percent) and women (63 percent). However, there are slightly more women (13 percent) than men (10 percent) who expect a sad Christmas this year.

By age, expectations of a happy 2011 Christmas are higher among younger people aged 18-24 (67 percent), 25-34 (66 percent) and 35-44 (68 percent) than among older people aged 45-54 (63 percent) and 55 and above (58 percent).

The SWS survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults 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.