A new Stratbase and Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey shows that only around 1 in 3 Filipinos believe their quality of life has improved over the past year.
The survey found that 43 percent of respondents said their situation remained the same, while 25% felt their lives had worsened.
Conducted from January 17 to 20, the survey used face-to-face interviews with 1,800 registered voters nationwide—300 in Metro Manila, 900 in Balance Luzon (Luzon outside Metro Manila), 300 in the Visayas, and 300 in Mindanao.
Respondents were asked: “Comparing your quality of life these days to how it was 12 months ago, would you say that your quality of life is BETTER NOW THAN BEFORE, SAME AS BEFORE, or WORSE NOW THAN BEFORE?”
Those who said their lives improved were classified as “gainers,” while those who said it worsened were called “losers.”
The survey recorded a net gainers score of +7, lower than the “very high” +13 recorded in December and September 2024. Balance Luzon had the highest net gainers score at +13 (very high), followed by Metro Manila at +9 (high), the Visayas at +2 (high), and Mindanao at -2 (fair).
The SWS earlier released a separate survey report showing that 6 out of 10 Filipinos or 63% rate themselves poor, which is the highest in 21 years since 64% in November 2003.
The same report indicated 51% of families rated themselves as Food-Poor underscoring a correlation between poverty and access to food.
The government earlier declared a food security emergency due to rising rice prices.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated article. Originally posted with the headline “Only 32% of Filipinos say quality of life improved — survey.”
