ARTICLE
Perhaps Australia is the lucky country after all
Despite the challenges presented in 2020, 85% of Australians say that they are happy when they think about their life overall. Two in five Australians (41%) believe they are happier than the average Australian, with a further 40% believing they are equally as happy as the average Australian.
A similar 43% say they are happier than five years ago, while 35% say they are about the same level of happy today than they were five years ago.
Family and contributing/giving contribute the most to happiness
The top three factors that increase levels of happiness are family (89%), contributing/giving (89%) and having purpose in life (83%). Other factors that also rated highly are fitness/health (83%), educational qualifications (83%), appearance (83%), wealth (83%), marriage/life partner (81%), achieving more than people around them (80%) and career success (80%). For a smaller but still significant proportion, faith and religion (64%) and social media (60%) also increase happiness.
Those on a greater income are happier
Australians who earn more per week report higher levels of happiness than those who earn less, with 57% of those who earn $3,000 or more per week saying they are extremely/very happy compared to 53% of those earning between $2,000 and $2,999 per week, 50% of those who earn between $1,200 and $1,999 per week, 44% of those who earn between $700 and $1,199 per week and 33% of those who learn less than $699 per week.