48% of Filipinos Expect Quality of Life to Improve in Next 12 Months: SWS Survey

Forty-eight percent of Filipinos aged 18 and above believe their quality of life will improve in the next 12 months, according to the latest survey by the Social Weather Stations (SWS). The poll classified the 48% of respondents who expected improvements in their quality of life as “optimists.” Meanwhile, 31% said their quality of life would remain the same, while 8% or the “pessimists” expected it to worsen. The remaining 12% did not give an answer. These figures resulted in a net personal optimism score of +40, computed by subtracting the percentage of pessimists from the percentage of optimists. SWS classified the score as “excellent,” according to SWS. The June 2026 score was 17 points higher than the “high” +23 recorded in March, the survey firm said. “The 17-point increase in the national Net Personal Optimism score between March and June 2026 was due to gains in all areas,” SWS said. Net Personal Optimism rose from “high” to “excellent” in Balance Luzon, increasing by 27 points from +22 to +49. The score also rose from “high” to “very high” in Metro Manila, up by 8 points from +28 to +36; in the Visayas, up by 6 points from +27 to +33; and in Mindanao, up by 11 points from +20 to +31. The non-commissioned survey was conducted from June 20 to 29 and interviewed 1,200 adults face-to-face: 300 each in Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao, and 600 in Balance Luzon, or Luzon outside Metro Manila. The sampling error margins are ±3 percentage points for national percentages and ±6 percentage points each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.— MCG, GMA News