Only 38% expect better life, lowest since 2021

MANILA, Philippines — The number of Filipinos who expect the quality of their lives to improve in the next 12 months has dropped to its lowest under the Marcos administration, a recent survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) showed.

Results of the March 24 to 31 survey released yesterday found that only 38 percent of the respondents expect their lives to improve in a year, down from 44 percent in November 2025.

It was the lowest since the 33 percent obtained in a similar survey in September 2021, back when the world was still grappling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The results also showed a significant increase in the percentage of respondents who expect their lives to worsen in the next 12 months, from eight percent in November 2025 to 16 percent in March 2026.

The last time SWS recorded a double-digit percentage of pessimists was in September 2020, at 30 percent.

Meanwhile, 32 percent of the respondents of the latest survey said quality of life would stay the same, while the remaining 14 percent did not give an answer.

The latest poll resulted in a “net personal optimism” score of +23, down 13 points from the +36 obtained in November 2025.

The “net personal optimism” is the rounded off difference between those who said their lives will worsen and those who said their lives will improve within the year.

The March 2026 score was the lowest since the +2 obtained in September 2020 (32 percent optimists, 30 percent pessimists). Net personal optimism was at +26 in September 2021 (33 percent optimists, seven percent pessimists).

Across areas, net personal optimism was highest among those in Metro Manila at +28 (from +36 in November), followed by those in the Visayas at +27 (from +29), rest of Luzon at +22 (from +40) and Mindanao at +20 (from +35).

The SWS survey had 1,500 respondents and a margin of error of plus/minus three percent.