SWS: 4 in 10 Filipinos see better life in 2026

GREAT EXPECTATIONS On the first day of the New Year, people write down their wishes on pieces of heart-shaped paper, which they then tie to a fence in Binondo, Manila. A Social Weather Stations survey conducted in November shows that about 44 percent of Filipinos are optimistic about their future, although 38 percent expect their lives to remain the same. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

Four out of 10 Filipinos expect their quality of life to improve in the next 12 months, based on the results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

The survey, conducted from Nov. 24 to Nov. 30, found that 44 percent of respondents expect their quality of life to improve in 2026 (optimists) and only 8 percent said it will worsen (pessimists). About 38 percent said that their quality of life would stay the same, while 9 percent did not answer.

This resulted in a net personal optimism score (percentage of optimists minus percentage of pessimists) of +36, which is classified by SWS as “very high.” Though almost unchanged from the net optimism score of +35 in September, it remains below the +41 in June.

According to SWS classification, the grade “excellent” is applied to net personal optimism scores of +40 or more; “very high” to scores between +30 and +39; “high” to scores between +20 and +29; “fair” to scores between +10 and +19; “mediocre” to scores between +1 and +9; “low” to scores between -9 and net zero; and “very low” to scores of -10 and below.

Net optimism up

Compared to the previous one conducted in September, the November survey showed that net personal optimism slightly increased in Mindanao (up by four points from +31 to +35) and Luzon outside Metro Manila (up by two points from +38 to +40). The overall net personal optimism score, however, was also affected by slight decreases in Metro Manila (down by 3 points from +39 to +36) and the Visayas (down by 4 points from +33 to +29).

The SWS also found that 29 percent of respondents said their quality of life was better than 12 months before (gainers), while 36 percent said it got worse (losers) and 34 percent said it was unchanged. This resulted in a “fair” net gainers score (percentage of gainers minus percentage of losers) of -7, a decline from the “fair” -2 recorded in September and the “very high” +12 in June. It is the lowest score in four years, since the “mediocre” -16 from December 2021.

SWS classification

The SWS classifies net gainers score as “excellent” for scores of +20 and above; “very high” for scores between +10 and +19; “high” for scores between +1 and +9; “fair” for scores between -9 and zero; “mediocre” for scores between -19 and -10; “low” for scores between -29 and -20; “very low” for scores between -39 and -30; “extremely low” for scores of -49 to -40; and “catastrophic” for scores -50 and below.

The November survey found that the net gainers score was at its highest in Mindanao at a “high” +2 (hardly changing from +3 in September), followed by Luzon outside Metro Manila at “fair” -7 (down by 3 points from -4), Metro Manila at “mediocre” -12 (down by 4 points from -8), and the Visayas at “mediocre” -14 (down by 13 points from +1).

The survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,200 adults nationwide. It had sampling error margins of plus-or-minus 3 percent for national percentages and plus-or-minus 6 percent each for Metro Manila, Luzon outside Metro Manila, the Visayas and Mindanao.