Rebecca Moore reads the latest statistics but feels emotion surveys may be hopelessly flawed

Apparently happiness and well-being levels are on their way up in Britain. Thank goodness because I was just starting to get worried. A biannual survey of wellbeing (I kid you not, it’s really called that) from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that life satisfaction and happiness indicators are up on last year’s figures.

And the wider survey of 165,000 people also shows that anxiety levels have dropped.

They’re mainly putting these positive results down to positive economic changes over the past year.

There is also mention that when economic forecasts are poor, happiness levels also dip among the employed who fear losing their jobs.

No kidding. If you were debating the unhappiness of the nation over cocktails with your girlfriends (I know, you wouldn’t, but just bear with me) I’m sure you could – even in a drunken haze – posit that unemployment, poor job prospects and low incomes may have something to do with it.

Additionally, married people supposedly have the highest wellbeing level among relationship groups – with divorced people having the lowest. Bridget Jones would probably agree. It was David Cameron who originally ordered the research, having decided that the Government needed to be informed not only of Britain’s economic progress but also of the public’s quality of life.

Aww, he sounds like Santa Claus, checking whether we’ve been naughty or nice, sure, but also ensuring we’re psychologically taken care of, too.

Having said this, in theory, I think it’s a good idea.

We shouldn’t just measure the success of a nation on its output and economy – we should consider the happiness of its people on the ground.

But in practice?

I once went to a doctor because I was unhappy.

It was a low period in my life, many years ago, and I just couldn’t shake it.

The doctor – a very kindly man who meant well – handed me a questionnaire.

He asked me to take it away and fill it out in an honest way.

There were statements such as ‘This week I’ve felt hopeless...’ and then you ticked options ranging between ‘Not at all’, to ‘All of the time’.

The problem is, you could have asked me this at various times of the day and the answer would have been different because the word hopeless seems different in a variety of lights.

I sometimes feel a bit hopeless when the size shoe I like has disappeared from the shop shelf.

However, I also felt pretty damn hopeless watching my dad die.

It was wholly ambiguous and desperately unhelpful.

I agree that the relationship between wellbeing and good health is an important one – a good laugh can ward off more things than the blues, I’m sure – but I don’t necessarily believe you can capture data like that in a questionnaire.

We’re more complex creatures than that, aren’t we?

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