Paper short abstract:

Freelancing among young professionals had gained momentum in the Philippines due to flexibility and freedom which help create more meaning in one's life. Given such phenomenon, this study focuses in observing whether or not freelance young professionals flourish in their work.

Paper long abstract:

There has been an increasing trend of freelance revenue in the Philippines since 2019. From 2019 to 2020 alone, the Philippines recorded an increase of 208% in freelance revenue—the highest in Asia for such year. This increase is deemed to be derived from the young population of the country (Philippine Institute of Development, n.d.). More so, during the pandemic, several Filipino young professionals had ventured to freelancing leaving their eight-hour job for flexibility and freedom (Tudy, 2020). Flexibility and freedom help create more meaning in one’s life. Thus, work is realized not just an activity to do or earn. It has an intrinsic dimension where participation provides meaning and positively affect well-being. Moreover, it is a path to human flourishing (VanderWeele, 2017). Human flourishing, which stems from the Aristotlean concept of eudaimonia, concerns in the development of virtues as the basis of wellbeing. A number of studies have been conducted in order to measure and observe flourishing and its effects on some communities. Various literature adopted the Flourishing Index (FI) and Secured Flourishing Index (SFI) introduced by Vanderweele (2017). The Fl is composed of two questions each under the five domains of human flourishing. On the other hand, the SFI has the same set of questions and structure as the FI but with the inclusion of financial and material resources which ensures flourishing over a longer period (Weziak-Bialowolska, 2019). FI and SFI “are calculated as the arithmetic average of all five and six domains, respectively, with equal weighting). Domain- specific indexes are “calculated as the arithmetic average of two questions with equal weighting (Weziak-Bialowolska, 2019).” Thus, this study measures the FI and SFI of Filipino Young Professionals. Such will be done through a survey of 400 freelance young professionals who reside within the Philippines. The Well Being Assessment created by the Human Flourishing Program of Harvard University will be used for the survey (VanderWeele, 2017). The study will use Secondary Order Confirmatory Factor Analysis to confirm and validate the results.