Married, employed homeowner? Congratulations! You must be very happy.
The background
How satisfied do you feel? The Office of National Statistics has released the results of Britain’s first wellbeing survey – and the results reveal that those who are married, employed and own their homes are most likely to feel life satisfaction.
The data also showed that people living in Northern Ireland and Scotland are more satisfied than those in England and Wales, and that the happiest age groups are young teenagers and over-sixties.
Don’t jump to conclusions
Mark Easton pointed out at the BBC that it’s very tempting to jump to conclusions over the new figures. For example, people who rent their homes are less satisfied than those who own, according to the ONs results. “But that doesn’t mean renting is bad for your happiness. All we can say is that there may be something about the kind of people who rent their homes that makes it more likely they will have lower levels of well-being,” Easton said.
What will the government do with the data?
“What really matters, and what remains to be seen, is how the data gets used,” wrote Oliver Burkeman at The Guardian’s Comment is Free. For example, the survey results suggest that being married is linked to greater satisfaction. “Does that mean more policies to encourage marriage would be a good thing – especially from the perspective of those people who wouldn’t be happier if married?” The trouble with this sort of survey, said Burkeman, is that “measuring feelings of wellbeing risks reinforcing a particular, one-size-fits-all ideology regarding the circumstances of wellbeing.”
Wellbeing should influence policy
Gathering data on wellbeing is a difficult, yet very important task that has practical applications, said Jonathan Jones at The Spectator: “We will be better able to see which places and groups have the greatest need when it comes to well-being (rather than just purely economic indicators like employment and income), and therefore be able to better target policies.”
Hard work is the key to happiness
The ONs survey reveals not only that employed people are happier than the unemployed, said Alice Thomson at The Times (£), but that “the harder and more physical the work, the happier we are”. This means Britons need to stop moaning and start working: “Work should be everyone’s goal, whether in the fields, manufacturing, offices or bringing up children.”
