UK life satisfaction down

UK – Life satisfaction in the UK has fallen for the first time in eight years, compared with the year before, according to the latest personal wellbeing data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

aerial view of British street

Ratings for both ‘life satisfaction’ and ‘feeling that things done in life are worthwhile’ deteriorated, according to the most recent data, which relates to the third quarter of last year (July to September 2019 ).

Average life satisfaction decreased by 0.7%, from 7.71 to 7.66 (out of 10 ) between the third quarters of 2018 and 2019, while ratings for the feelings that things done in life are worthwhile declined by 0.5% in the same period.

It is the first time these indicators have dropped significantly when compared with the previous quarter, since the ONS began measuring them in 2011.

Anxiety also remained at an elevated level, neither improving nor worsening since it increased in the second quarter of last year, with around 10.6 million people reporting a high level of anxiety.

People’s concerns about the general economic outlook continued to grow up to September 2019, reaching their highest level since late 2011.

The personal wellbeing measures from the ONS ask respondents to evaluate how satisfied they are with their life, whether they feel they have meaning and purpose in their life, and about their emotions (happiness and anxiety), on a scale of 0-10.

The personal well-being estimates are from the Annual Population Survey (APS).