Number of Happy Russians Rises to Record 82% – Poll

The number of happy Russians rose to a record 82 percent in April, eclipsing the previous high of 77 percent recorded in March 2008, All-Russia Public Opinion Research Center reported on Monday.

Only 13 percent of respondents said they feel unhappy.

Russians younger than 35 accounted for 36 percent of all happy Russians and just 20 percent of the unhappy ones.

Similarly, highly educated Russians made up 30 percent of happy respondents and just 19 percent of the unhappy population.

As in previous surveys, Russians associated a sense of happiness with the well-being of the family (32 percent). About 15 percent find joy in their children and grandchildren, and 13 percent reported that life is good, while 10 percent are happy that they have a loved one, and the fact that they and their families are healthy.

Poverty was cited by 15% of respondents as a leading cause of unhappiness, followed by illness and old age (10 percent). Other negative factors mentioned were lack of a good job, loneliness, poor housing, the alarming situation in the country, fatigue, family conflicts, lack of opportunity to start a family, lack of confidence in the future and rising prices.

Happy people are generally satisfied with their jobs (56 percent), while those who feel unhappy are often dissatisfied with their employment (46 percent).

Russian ranks as the 76th happiest country in an international list of some 150 countries, according the World Happiness Report, released in early April, by the Earth Institute of Columbia University. The authors of the report, concluded that the happiest countries are in northern Europe. They assessed the political freedom, social security and lack of corruption of all countries included in the survey. These factors, according to scientists, are much more important than the income of the population. The table was topped by such wealthy nations as Denmark, Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Canada and Switzerland. Their “happy factor” is 7.6 out of 10 points.

 

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