Count ‘Zs’, not ‘Rs’, for contentment

New study sheds new light on well-being

SLEEPING well has a far more profound impact on well-being than a significant pay rise.

A survey of thousands of Britons by researchers Oxford Economics and the National Centre for Social Research found that a healthy amount of sleep was the strongest indicator of living well.

Those who were satisfied with their sex lives, felt secure in their jobs and were connected to their communities were also disproportionately likely to rank at the top of a new well-being measure, the Living Well Index.

Income had little impact on how well people felt, the researchers found, with a 50% pay rise lifting a well-being score by just 0.5 points.

Meanwhile, sleep quality could explain 3.8 points of difference between a typical person’s score and those in the top 20%.

For the average person, improving sleep to the level of someone at the top of the index would be equivalent to them having more than four times as much disposable income.

Across the population, 35% said they were satisfied with their sex lives, while among those who scored highest in the index, 63% said they were “almost twice the national average”.

Worrying about the health of close relatives resulted in a difference of 1.75 points, according to the research, which was sponsored by supermarket giant Sainsbury’s.

Ian Mulheirn, the director of consulting at Oxford Economics, said well-being was rising up the agenda at a time of rapid change in how people live their lives.

“In a world that has never been more connected, the richness of our relationships and support networks remains among the biggest determinants of how well we live – and represents an area of our lives in which we can act,” he added.

Researchers questioned 8 250 people regarding 60 different aspects of their lives, including how they behaved and felt.

The same panel will be questioned every six months, allowing researchers to trace the effects of lifestyle on how Britons feel. – The Independent