37% of Filipinos report improved quality of life over past year

A recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey for the third quarter of 2024 reveals that 37% of Filipino adults feel their quality of life has improved compared to last year, while 24% report a decline. Meanwhile, 38% say their quality of life remains unchanged from last year.

The “Net Gainer score,” calculated by subtracting those who reported a worse quality of life from those who reported improvements, stands at +13. This marks a slight dip from the +15 recorded in June 2024 and is five points below the pre-pandemic high of +18 in December 2019.

Regionally, the highest Net Gainer score was observed in Balance Luzon at an “excellent” +22, with Mindanao following at +13, Metro Manila at +6, and the Visayas at -2.

In addition, the survey found that 22.9% of Filipino families experienced hunger at least once in the past three months. Among families who reported hunger, the Net Gainer score showed a marked decline, highlighting the impact of food insecurity on quality-of-life perceptions. Non-Hungry families maintained a very high Net Gainer score of +19, while scores among Moderately Hungry and Severely Hungry families were significantly lower at +1 and -22, respectively.

The survey, conducted through face-to-face interviews with 1,500 adults nationwide between September 14 and 23, has a sampling error margin of ±2.5% for national results.