SWS: 48% of Filipinos think quality of life will improve next year

MANILA, Philippines — The Social Weather Stations (SWS) said on Tuesday that majority of adult Filipinos think that quality of life will improve in the next 12 months.

According to its survey from September 28 to October 1, there are 48 percent of adult Filipinos who think that quality of life will improve in the next 12 months, which the SWS termed as “optimists.”

Meanwhile, 40 percent said that quality of life will remain unchanged in the next 12 months, termed by the SWS as “no change,” while six percent said that quality of life will worsen in the next 12 months.

The remaining percent of people did not give an answer.

The SWS also reported that the Net Personal Optimism score in September 2023 was +42 which it classified as “excellent.” This is an increase from the previous Net Personal Optimism score in June 2023, which was +41, and classified as “excellent.”

SWS added that Net Personal Optimism score increased in Luzon outside Metro Manila, which it termed “Balance Luzon,” from +44 in June 2023 to +50, and in Mindanao, from +36 in June 2023 to +43.

However, the number saw a decrease in Metro Manila, from +41 in June 2023 to +30, meriting a drop from its “excellent” rating, to “very high,” and in Visayas, from +39 in June 2023 to +30.

READ: SWS: 46% of Filipinos believe quality of life will improve in 12 months

The polling company also saw a drop in the Net Personal Optimism of college graduates and those who took postgraduate studies from +50 in June 2023 to +46. The number also lowered slightly for those who finished junior high school, finished senior high school, took vocational schooling, took senior high school, completed vocational school, or attended college, from +47  in June 2023 to +46.

READ: Hunger in Filipino families slightly falls in 3rd quarter of 2023 – SWS

Net Personal Optimism rose for elementary school finishers, and those who took high school education from +32 in June 2023 to +38. This also went for those who did not have formal education or some elementary education, from +29  in June 2023 to +30.

The SWS said that it surveyed 1,200 respondents, 12 percent from Metro Manila, 45 percent from Balance Luzon, 19 percent from Visayas, and 23 percent from Mindanao.

“The sampling error margins are ±2.8% for national percentages, and ±5.7% each for Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao,”  it added.