SWS: 44% of Pinoys expect quality of life to improve in 2026

Forty-four percent of adult Filipinos are looking forward to the improvement of their quality of life ("optimists") in the next 12 months, a survey conducted in November by Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents feel their quality of life will stay the same, while 8% said theirs will worsen ("pessimists").

Nine percent on the other hand did not answer the survey question.

This resulted in a net personal optimism of +36 (% optimists minus % pessimists), classified by SWS as very high, and is not far from the +35 very high score in September.

According to the SWS, net personal optimism rose from +38 or very high to +40 or excellent in Balance Luzon and stayed very high in Mindanao (+31 in September to +35 in November). 

Though it also stayed very high in Metro Manila and the Visayas, points decreased from +39 to +36 as well as +33 to +29, respectively.

Meanwhile, net personal optimism stayed very high in rural areas, increasing from +34 to +36, and in urban areas, from +36 to +37.

Results of the survey also showed that net optimism slightly rose among women from +38 to +39 and among men from +33 to +34.

However, the SWS noted that net optimism tends to decline with age, scoring highest among individuals aged 18 to 24 at excellent +54 and lowest among those aged 55 years and older at high +28.

Aside from this the survey found that 29% of adult Filipinos said their quality of life was better twelve months prior to the survey (gainers), 36% said it was worse (losers), while 34% said it was unchanged.

The SWS said that net personal optimism among gainers was at an excellent +58 from +56, and rose by four points from +13 to +17 among losers.

“In all surveys from 2019 to 2025, Net Personal Optimism has been higher among Gainers than among Losers and Unchanged,” the SWS said.

The survey was conducted nationwide face-to-face from November 24 to 30 among 1,200 adults aged 18 years old and above — 300 respondents each in Metro Manila, Balance Luzon (the rest of Luzon outside Metro Manila), Visayas, and Mindanao.

Sampling error margins are at ±3% for national percentages and ±6% each for Metro Manila, Balance
Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao, SWS said. —KG, GMA Integrated News