Week 25: Health, wealth and happiness

A period of stability can be seen in the index as the weather improves, says Doug Edmonds, managing director of 2CV.

Doug Edmonds
Doug Edmonds

This week’s well-being index has a small increase of 2 points, registering at 38 and maintaining the period of stability that has been seen for several weeks.

This increase appears to be driven by men, their well-being increasing by 8 points to 35%; a contrast to last week’s figures, where significant drops were reported. This week there is a bumper increase across all aspects for the male respondents, which suggests that feeling healthier, wealthier and happier brings an all-round boost to well-being. Women are the only group to register a drop in well-being this week, which falls by 4 points to 41%.

Overall, health levels are boosted this week with the exception of the younger generation. Perhaps they are feeling the effects of over indulgence as their busy weekends socialising with friends are becoming more frequent as the good weather improves. Incidentally, happiness levels for 16-34 year olds have also dropped this week by 7 points to 39%, suggesting a link between health satisfaction and happiness. Nearly half of women are now feeling satisfied with their health, with a rise of 5 points to 48%. The past few weeks have seen a fluctuation in their health levels, rising and falling each week. Perhaps women are finding it harder to sustain fitness routines and instead prefer to focus for short bursts of activity.

With the exception of the middle-aged group, which drops by 1 point to 24%, people appear to be feeling more financially satisfied. Perhaps the boost from payday is being felt across the nation, in addition to a sense of stability as the upheaval felt during the run up to the election is resolved.

Here are the results by each demographic:

Young People
This week shows several fluctuations for 16-34 year olds. Most notably, a 9 point rise in wealth levels, registering this week at 23%. Perhaps, as the election begins to reach a conclusion the younger generation are looking towards their financial future with a more positive outlook. Despite improved financial stability, health and happiness drop significantly by 6 and 7 points respectively. Incidentally, they are the only group who have any significant decreases this week.

Middle-aged band
A 2 point increase in well-being to 34% could be linked to the boost registered in health (42%) and happiness (40%). With the exception of wealth, which decreases by 1 point to 24%, morale amongst this group appears to be on the up.

Grey Market
An increase across all aspects suggests this age group are feeling more settled, following several weeks of instability. The 6 point increase in wealth levels to 41% ensures this group remain the most financially satisfied. Happiness amongst the grey market increases by 4 points this week to 55%, the only age group where more than half claim to be happy.

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