FORTY-FOUR percent of Filipinos are expecting that 2026 will be their chance to have an improved quality of life, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

In the same survey, 38% of the respondents said that they expect quality of life will be the same in the next 12 months, while 8% fear that it will worsen. 9% meanwhile, did not give an answer.

This resulted in a very high net personal optimism of +36.

The latest result is similar to September 2025’s very high net personal optimism of +35.

Based on the poll, the slight increase in the net personal optimism is because of the collective slight growth in Mindanao at +35 (from +31 in September) and +40 in Balance Luzon (from +38). 

In Metro Manila and Visayas, the net personal optimism remained very high, although the score decreased slightly, +36 from +39 and +29 from +33 respectively.

Furthermore, the survey found that while net personal optimism remained very high, even excellent, in some demographics, a slight decline was seen among those elementary (+31 from +33) and non-elementary graduates (+35 from +37).

The fourth quarter 2025 SWS was conducted from November 24 to 30, through face-to-face interviews with 1,200 adults nationwide, with 300 respondents each from Metro Manila, Balance Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

According to SWS, the net personal optimism hit a record low of -19 during the COVID-19 lockdown in May 2020 and has since improved.