SWS: 47% see improved ‘quality of life’ in Sept, almost same from June

People cross a street at a popular shopping centre in Manila. ( AFP FILE PHOTO)

More Filipino adults believed their quality of life has become better than a year ago, the results of the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey released on Thursday showed.

The survey, conducted from Sept. 14 to Sept. 23, found that 47 percent of Filipinos said their lives had improved (optimists) over the past 12 months, a slight increase from the 46 percent recorded in the June 2024 survey.

Meanwhile, 40 percent of the 1,500 respondents said their quality of life remained the same (no change), while only five percent said it got worse (pessimists). The remaining eight percent, on the other hand, did not give an answer.

The resulting net personal optimism score stands at +42, which SWS classified as “excellent.” This score is similar to the “excellent” +41 in June 2024, following a slight increase from “very high” +37 in March 2024.

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

The 1-point increase in the net personal optimism score was due to the slight increases in Metro Manila, up by five points from +40 to +45, and the Visayas, up by four points from +27 to +31.

Demographics of optimism

Luzon outside of Metro Manila, on the other hand, showed a slight change from +49 to +48, while Mindanao decreased from +39 to +37.

Among those who completed elementary education, net personal optimism rose from “very high” to “excellent,” up by two points from +39 to +41.

College graduates, on the other hand, stayed “excellent,” although down by three points from +50 to +47.

Junior high school graduates remained in the “excellent” range at +43, while nonelementary graduates hardly moved from +34 to +35 and stayed in the “very high” range.

SWS used in-person interviews and had a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.5 percent for the national percentages, plus-or-minus 4.0 percent for Luzon outside of Metro Manila, and plus-or-minus 5.7 percent for Metro Manila, the Visayas, and Mindanao.

The survey also found that net personal optimism was higher among gainers at +60, classified as “excellent,” than among the unchanged at +37, “very high,” and losers at +20,”high.”

SWS also found that net personal optimism was highest among self-rated “not poor” families at +48 and “borderline” families at +47, both classified as “excellent.”

In contrast, self-rated “poor” families had a net optimism score of +38, which falls under the “very high” range. —INQUIRER RESEARCH

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