Filipino Happiness and Hunger
June 8, 2008 by Michael Nugent
Four out of every five Filipinos are happy, and this level of happiness has remained relatively high over the past fifteen years. And poor Filipinos are only marginally less happy than average.
However, seven million Filipino families consider themselves to be poor in terms of food. And hunger causes more unhappiness than general poverty does.
The research was conducted by Social Weather Stations, a non-profit social research institution based in Quezon City in Metro Manila.
Its three aims are: (1) Education, so eyes may see social conditions; (2) Conscientization, so hearts may feel social problems; and (3) Analysis, so minds may understand their solutions.
Unhappiness and Hunger in the Philippines
In March 2008, 77% of poor Filipinos were happy, not too far below the 81% average for all Filipinos. However, compared to an average family, a hungry family was one and a half times as likely to be unhappy, and a very hungry family was twice as likely to be unhappy.
That fits in with studies from other countries that show that it is harder to be happy when you are below a certain basic level of income. However, when you go above that level of income, every extra amount of money that you earn has less and less impact on your happiness.
As well as the seven million Filipino families who are poor in terms of food, there are five million families on the borderline, and another five and a half million families who are not poor in terms of food.
Also, despite considerable inflation, Filipino families are not increasing the food budget that they need in order not to consider themselves poor in terms of food. This means that, in real terms, poor Filipino families are lowering their living standards.
Overall Happiness in the Philippines
The four out of five adult Filipinos who are happy break down roughly like this: 34 percent are very happy, and 46 percent are fairly happy. Meanwhile, 16 percent say that they are not very happy, and nearly 4 percent say that they are not at all happy.
Sources
- Photo: Philippines by Dharion (cc)
- Social Weather Stations Website
- Details of the First Quarter 2008 Survey
- Article about the Survey in Philippine Daily Inquirer
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Greetings Michael - have just stumbled on your blog, and it’s all interesting stuff.
I was in Manila about twenty years ago, and was surprised that so many Filipinos were believers, hanging on to Catholic traditions while being very liberal in their attitudes. For example, it wasn’t unusual to see a ladyboy bless themselves when passing a church. Could it be that - gulp! - religion is a factor in making them happier?