The 2CV Well-Being Index

The 2CV Well-Being Index has fallen slightly this week. It registers at 38, which is 3% down from the previous week. Although there has been no dramatic change to the mood of the nation over the past seven days, if we look closer at the results we can see some interesting trends emerging.

There seems to be a cyclical rising up and down of perceptions of wealth over a four-week period. This potentially could be related to pay day, with people feeling poorer towards the end of the month than at other times. This is likely to be one of the main factors for the 3% drop in this week’s Well-Being Index, so it will be interesting to see if wealth recovers next week.

Overall, men and women’s happiness has remained consistent so far this year and health has increased throughout January. The 16-34 year old generation overall continue to be the most content. This age group tends to have a positive outlook in life and they are looking forward to the opportunities this year may bring. Here are the results by each age category:

Young people
16-34 year olds continue to be the happiest age group, with a significant 14% increase this week. People are clearly in the full swing of their routines and although spring is a few weeks away, people are starting to look ahead and are likely to be planning future breaks and getaways. In addition, compared to the previous month, health in this age group has seen a positive increase. People are perhaps starting to see and feel the results of their exercise regimes – they are feeling healthier and happier.

Middle-aged band
This week, well-being has fallen by 11% for the middle-age group. Although this peaked at the beginning of the year, perhaps due to people feeling refreshed after the break, over the course of January this has dropped dramatically. The adverse weather conditions we have seen across the country are likely factors, taking their toll on this generation as simple tasks such as driving to and from work and picking children up from school proves difficult. Interestingly, we have noticed that from the end of 2009, health amongst this age group almost exactly tracks the fluctuations of well-being. Therefore, we could infer that health is a particularly important component of well-being during this time of year and is influencing the decrease we have seen in January.

Grey market
Overall, this generation is the most stable, with little change in satisfaction with their wealth and happiness. As previously mentioned, health amongst all age groups has increased this year and this is being driven by the 55-74 age group whose satisfaction with health rises 17% over the course of the month. Almost half of this population, 49%, are feeling fit and healthy.