The quality of life for Filipinos has taken a slight dip at the start of 2025, according to the latest Stratbase-SWS Pre-Election Survey. While many still feel their situation has improved over the past year, the number of people reporting a better quality of life has dropped compared to previous months.

The survey, conducted from 17 to 20 January, found that 32 percent of adult Filipinos said their lives had improved compared to a year ago. Meanwhile, 25 percent reported that their situation had worsened, while 43 percent said nothing had changed.

This resulted in a Net Gainers score of +7, meaning more people are still experiencing improvements in their lives than those who feel worse off. However, this is a decline from the +13 recorded in December and September 2024.

The current Net Gainers score is still far from the pre-pandemic level of +18 recorded in December 2019. While the trend has been improving since the sharp drop caused by COVID-19 lockdowns, the latest results suggest full recovery has yet to be achieved.

Mixed results across regions

The survey revealed varying trends across the country. Luzon (excluding Metro Manila) saw the best results, with a strong Net Gainers score of +13. Metro Manila followed with +9, although this was a slight decline from +15 in December. The Visayas experienced a more significant drop, falling from +14 to +2, while Mindanao recorded the lowest score at -2, meaning more people in the region felt worse off compared to a year ago.

Urban and rural areas see declines

Both urban and rural communities experienced a decline in quality-of-life assessments. Urban areas saw a three-point drop from +10 in December to +7 in January, while rural areas experienced a more noticeable nine-point decrease, falling from +16 to +7.

Younger Pinoys more optimistic

The younger generation appears to be the most optimistic about their quality of life. Among 18 to 24-year-olds, the Net Gainers score remained exceptionally high at +34, indicating that many young Filipinos feel their lives have improved. However, optimism drops with age. The score for those aged 25 to 34 fell from +28 to +13, while those aged 35 and older reported only minimal improvements or declines, with the oldest age group (55 and above) recording a score of -2.

The survey also found a link between education levels and quality-of-life perception. Those with some senior high school education recorded the highest score at +21, followed by college graduates at +11. Meanwhile, elementary school graduates had a lower score of -1, with more of them feeling their situation had worsened than improved.

The Stratbase-SWS Pre-Election Survey interviewed 1,800 registered voters nationwide through face-to-face interviews. The results have a national sampling error margin of ±2.31 percent, providing a reliable snapshot of public sentiment.