SWS: 48% of Filipinos expect better quality of life
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Nearly half of adult Filipinos expect their quality of life to improve over the next 12 months, pushing national personal optimism to its highest level in a year, according to the latest Social Weather Stations survey.
The Second Quarter 2026 Social Weather Survey found that 48 percent of adult Filipinos expect their quality of life to improve, while 31 percent believe it will remain unchanged and 8 percent expect it to worsen. The remaining 12 percent did not give an answer.
This resulted in a Net Personal Optimism score of +40, which SWS classifies as “excellent.”
The figure climbed 17 points from the “high” +23 recorded in March and slightly surpassed the 2025 average of +39. It was also the highest Net Personal Optimism score since the +41 registered in June 2025.
The improvement was recorded across all major geographic areas.
Balance Luzon posted the biggest increase, with its score surging 27 points from +22 in March to an “excellent” +49 in June.
Metro Manila improved eight points to +36, while the Visayas rose six points to +33 and Mindanao gained 11 points to +31. All three were classified as “very high.”
Optimism also strengthened in both rural and urban communities.
Rural areas rose 17 points from +24 to an “excellent” +41, while urban areas climbed by the same margin from +22 to a “very high” +39.
Women registered a larger improvement than men, with their Net Personal Optimism jumping 23 points from +20 to an “excellent” +43. Among men, the score rose 12 points from +26 to a “very high” +38.
Younger Filipinos remained the most optimistic.
Those aged 18 to 24 posted an “excellent” +58, followed by 25- to 34-year-olds at +51. The score stood at +38 among those aged 35 to 44 and +36 among those aged 45 to 54.
Filipinos aged 55 and older remained the least optimistic group, although their score improved seven points from +10 to +17.
Optimism likewise increased across all educational levels.
College graduates recorded the biggest gain, rising 31 points from +26 in March to an “excellent” +57 in June. Those with some senior high school education also registered an “excellent” +46.
SWS also found that people who said their quality of life improved over the past year were substantially more optimistic about the future.
Net Personal Optimism stood at an “excellent” +60 among those classified by SWS as “Gainers,” compared with +40 among those whose quality of life remained unchanged and +12 among those who said their situation had worsened.
SWS considers scores of +40 or higher “excellent,” +30 to +39 “very high,” +20 to +29 “high,” +10 to +19 “fair,” +1 to +9 “mediocre,” zero to -9 “low,” and -10 or below “very low.”
The survey was conducted from 20 to 29 June through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide, with 300 respondents each from Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao.
It had a sampling error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points for national figures and plus or minus 6 percentage points for each geographic area. The survey items were non-commissioned and conducted on SWS’ own initiative.
