73% of adult Pinoys expecting a happy Christmas this 2023—SWS
Adult Filipinos revealed what they are most grateful for in 2023 as 73% of them said they are looking forward to having a happy Christmas this year.
According to a survey released by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) on Saturday, Dec. 23, 51% said they are most thankful for good health, 29% for their families, and 16% for being alive.
Following the top three responses were job/career/income (10%), food to eat (8%), coping with daily hardships (8%), prosperity (5%), all the blessings (3%), education (3%), peace and safety (3%), and God (2%).
Responses related to romance or their spouse, motorcycle/vehicle, surviving an illness or surgery, happy life, house, financial support, having no worries or problems, and material things obtained 1%.
Around 73% of adult Filipinos are expecting that this Christmas would be a happy one, revealing the same results as the survey conducted in 2022—with 23 points above the record-low 50% in 2020 and six points below the pre-pandemic level of 79% in 2019.
The remaining 6% of the respondents said they are expecting it to be sad, while 21% said they are expecting it to be neither happy nor sad.
According to SWS, the expectation of a sad Christmas was "customarily at single-digit levels" ranging from 2% to 9%. It was only in 2004, 2009, 2011, and 2020 when it reached double-digits, ranging from 10% to 15%.
The latest survey was conducted from Dec. 8 to 11 via face-to-face interviews with 1,200 Pinoy adults aged 18 years old and above—300 each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon (outside Metro Manila), the Visayas, and Mindanao.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., in a statement posted on his Facebook page on Sunday, Dec. 24, greeted Filipinos a Merry Christmas as he emphasized the true essence of the season.
"More than just a day of celebration, let us be reminded that the true meaning of Christmas lies in the recognition of the season as an opportunity to reach out to those facing solitude, sickness, and poverty," his statement read.
Marcos also asked everyone to ignite goodwill, kindness, and compassion in their communities.
"By doing so, we do not only bring peace, love, and unity but become living instruments of the timeless adage that God's work here on earth is truly our own," he said.