Social Weather Report | Gainers Minus Losers Falls to +7 in January 2025 From +13 in December 2024

• 32% got better off, 25% got worse off, and 43% stayed the same in the past 12 months

By Social Weather Station

The Stratbase-SWS January 2025 Pre-Election Survey of January 17-20, 2025 found 32% of adult Filipinos saying their quality-of-life was better than twelve months before (termed by SWS as “Gainers”), 25% saying it got worse (“Losers”), and 43% saying it was the same (“Unchanged”), compared to a year ago.

This gives a Net Gainers score of +7 (% Gainers minus % Losers), classified by SWS as high[1] (+1 to +9). This is 6 points below the very high +13 in December 2024 and September 2024, and similar to the high +5 in March 2024 and December 2023 [Charts 1 and 2, Table 1].

The January 2025 Net Gainers score of +7 was 11 points below the very high +18 in December 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey question on the respondents’ assessment of their change in quality of life in the past 12 months has been fielded 156 times since April 1983. The Net Gainers score was generally negative until 2015 when it rose to positive numbers until the sharp decline beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. It has since trended back upwards but has not fully recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

Net Gainers falls in all areas except in Balance Luzon

The January 2025 survey found the Net Gainers score highest in Balance Luzon at very high +13, followed by Metro Manila at high +9, the Visayas at high +2, and Mindanao at fair -2 [Chart 3, Table 2].

The 6-point decline in the nationwide Net Gainers score from December 2024 to January 2025 was due to decreases in all areas except in Balance Luzon.

Compared to December 2024, Net Gainers stayed very high in Balance Luzon, hardly moving from +14 to +13.

However, it fell from very high to high in the Visayas, down by 12 points from +14 to +2, and Metro Manila, down by 6 points from +15 to +9.

It fell from high to fair in Mindanao, down by 11 points from +9 to -2.

Net Gainers down in both urban and rural areas

By locale, Net Gainers was at high +7 in both urban and rural areas [Table 3].

However, compared to December 2024, it fell by 3 points from very high +10 in urban areas, and 9 points from very high +16 in rural areas.

Net Gainers falls among both men and women

Net Gainers was high among both men and women, at +5 and +9, respectively.

Compared to December 2024, it stayed high among men, although down by 4 points from +9, while it fell from very high among women, down by 7 points from +16.

Net Gainers falls in all age groups except among 18-24-year-olds

Net Gainers tends to decline with age: as of January 2025, it was highest among 18-24-year-olds at excellent +34, followed by 25-34-year-olds at very high +13, 35-44-year-olds at high +4, 45-54-year-olds at high +2, and 55 years old and older at fair -2.

Compared to December 2024, Net Gainers stayed at excellent +34 among 18-24-year-olds. However, it fell by 15 points from excellent +28 among 25-34-year-olds, 7 points from very high +11 among 35-44-year-olds, 6 points from high +8 among the 45-54-year-olds, and 4 points from high +2 among those 55 years old and above.

Net Gainers falls in all educational levels except among those with some senior high school

Net Gainers tended to be higher among those with more years of formal schooling: it was higher among those with some senior high school (excellent +21) and college graduates (very high +11) than among junior high school graduates (high +4), non-elementary graduates (high +1), and elementary graduates (fair -1) [Chart 4, Table 4].

Compared to December 2024, Net Gainers stayed excellent among those with some senior high school, hardly moving from +20. However, it fell by 13 points from very high +12 among elementary graduates, 7 points from very high +11 among junior high school graduates, 5 points from high +6 among non-elementary graduates, and 4 points from very high +15 among college graduates.

SWS classifications

The following are the classifications of Net Gainers scores: The grade “Excellent” is applied to scores at +20 and above; “Very High” to scores between +10 and +19; “High” to scores between +1 and +9; “Fair” to scores between –9 and zero; “Mediocre” to scores between –19 and –10; “Low” to scores between –29 and –20; “Very Low” to scores between –39 and –30; “Extremely Low” to scores at –49 to –40; and “Catastrophic” to scores –50 and below. (Up to December 2019, “Very Low” was the bottom-most category and was applied to scores –30 and below. In the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, new negative categories were delineated. In May 2020, the grade “Extremely Low” was added and applied to scores –40 and below; and in August 2020, the grade of “Catastrophic” was added for those scores below –50.)

The historical distribution of Net Gainers scores by grade is summarized in the table below:

Socio-demographic characteristics of respondents

Applying the COMELEC 2023 Project of Precincts weights for validated voters and correctly rounded, 11% of the respondents are from Metro Manila, 45% from Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila), 20% from the Visayas, and 24% from Mindanao [Table 5].

Fifty-two percent are from urban areas, and 48% are from rural areas.

Male and female respondents have a 1-to-1 ratio and, thus, are alternately sampled.

By age group, 11% are youth (18-24), 20% are intermediate youth (25-34), 21% are middle-aged (35-44), 17% are 45 to 54 years old, and 31% are 55 years old and above.

By education, 13% had at most some elementary education, 24% either finished elementary or had some high school education, 28% either finished junior high school or completed vocational school, 21% either had some senior high school or attended some college, and 14% either graduated from college or took post-graduate studies.

Survey background

The Stratbase-SWS January 2025 Pre-Election Survey was conducted January 17-20, 2025, using face-to-face interviews of 1,800 registered voters (18 years old and above) nationwide: 300 in Metro Manila, 900 in Balance Luzon (or Luzon outside Metro Manila), 300 in the Visayas, and 300 in Mindanao. Face-to-face is the standard interviewing method for Social Weather Stations; the only exceptions were early in the pandemic when movement restrictions made face-to-face impossible and mobile phone interviews were conducted. Normal face-to-face field operations resumed in November 2020. The sampling error margins are ±2.31% for national percentages, ±5.66% for Metro Manila, ±3.27% for Balance Luzon, and ±5.66% each for the Visayas and Mindanao.

The area estimates were weighted by the COMELEC 2023 Project of Precincts data for validated voters to obtain the national estimates.

The SWS survey question on change in personal quality-of-life from last year to the present are directed to the probability respondent. This item is non-commissioned and is included on SWS’s initiative and released as a public service.

The exact phrasing of the survey questions (the source language is Filipino; English translation included) was:

“Kung ikukumpara ang uri ng inyong kasalukuyang pamumuhay sa nakaraang 12 buwan, masasabi ba ninyo na ang uri ng inyong pamumuhay ay MAS MABUTI KAYSA NOON, KAPAREHO NG DATI, o MAS MASAMA KAYSA NOON? [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?]”

SWS employs its own staff for questionnaire design, sampling, fieldwork, data processing, and analysis and does not outsource any of its survey operations. This report was prepared by Jillian Carylle M. Pescadero and Leo S. Laroza. 

[1] The SWS terminology for Net Gainers scores: +20 and above, “Excellent”; +10 to +19, “Very high”; + 1 to + 9, “High”; – 9 to zero, “Fair”; –19 to –10, “Mediocre”; –29 to –20, “Low”; –39 to –30, “Very Low”; –49 to –40, “Extremely Low”; and –50 and below, “Catastrophic”. 

Chart 1

Chart 2

Chart 3

Chart 4

Table 1

Table 2

Table 3

Table 4

Table 5