MANILA, Philippines — Four in 10 Filipinos are “very happy” with their lives in general, a Social Weather Stations first quarter survey suggests.
The poll, conducted from March 28 to 31, found 44% of the 1,440 respondents saying they were “very happy” with their lives—a five-point increase from the 39% in December 2018.
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Forty-nine percent said they were “fairly happy” while only 8% said they were generally “unhappy.”
SWS noted that the higher “very happy” figures were due to the increases in Mindanao (58%), Visayas (57%) and Metro Manila (43%)
The proportion of those who said they were “very happy” with their lives was highest among Muslims at 66%. They were followed by those from Christian denominations at 50%, Catholics at 42% and Iglesia ni Cristo members at 39%.
Unhappiness, on the other hand, was highest among those belonging to other Christian denominations (8%) and Catholics (8%).
The Philippines ranked 69th on the list of happiest countries in the world, according to a United Nations report released last March.
Almost 4 of 10 Filipinos ‘very satisfied’ with their lives
The same survey found that 37% of Filipinos were “very satisfied” with the lives they lead. The proportion was three points higher than the 34% recorded in December of last year.
53% said they were “fairly satisfied” with their lives—a five-point rise from the 48% in Decembe 2018 and the highest since the 55% in April 2016.
Only 11% of the respondents said they were “dissatisfied” with their lives.
The proportion of those who were “very satisfied” with their lives was highest among college graduates at 46%, while dissastisfaction with their lives was highest among non-elementary graduates at 14%.
Muslims also accounted for the most number of respondents who said they were “very satisfied” with life at 63%. They were followed by Iglesia ni Cristo members at 53%, other Christians at 37% and Catholics at 35%.
The proportion of those who were “dissatisfied” with their lives were highest among other Christians at 15%, Catholics at 11%, Iglesia ni Cristo members at 10% and Muslims at 2%.
The survey has sampling error margins of ±2.6% for national percentages, and ±5% each for Balance Luzon, Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.