Happiness Levels Have Increased In The UK - And It's Driven By People In England

The growth is marginal, but it's worth celebrating.

Levels of happiness have improved in the UK, with people in England driving the change between 2016-17.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in the year ending September 2017, there continued to be slight improvements in the UK for average ratings of life satisfaction, worthwhile and happiness.

When the ONS began measuring happiness in 2011, the average happiness score was 7.29. However in 2017 it had risen to 7.52.

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England was the only UK country with any changes in average reported personal wellbeing between 2016-17.

Interestingly women reported higher life satisfaction, worthwhile and happiness ratings compared with men - but they also reported higher levels of anxiety.

If you’re aged 30 and over, the good times keep on rolling. ONS said since it started measuring happiness there have been improvements for all measures of personal wellbeing among those aged 30 to 34, 40 to 59 and 65 to 69.

Growth in happiness, life satisfaction and worthwhile categories has been slow but steady.
ONS
Growth in happiness, life satisfaction and worthwhile categories has been slow but steady.

Commenting on the figures, Silvia Manclossi from the Office for National Statistics, said: “We have seen average ratings of personal wellbeing slightly improving over the years.

“Factors such as people’s social connections and health status play a key part in personal wellbeing. However, some economic factors are also important, so perhaps this trend over time is not surprising as the country came out of the economic downturn.

“We have also seen inequalities emerging within the data, and we will be exploring these further looking at factors that may contribute to some groups of society having lower personal wellbeing.”

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