We’re getting happier in boom-time Britain

UPBEAT Britons now believe their glass is threequarters full as levels of happiness hit a new high. The news comes as fewer people admit to suffering from anxiety, official surveys show.

Asked to rate how happy their life is, an average Briton gives a score of more than 7.5 out of ten, according to an assessment of wellbeing published yesterday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

It highlighted the lowest unemployment in nearly 40 years, rising wages, and confidence in the economy and its prospects as reasons for a general rise in wellbeing over the past seven years.

The ONS began recording how happy people said they were in 2011 as part of a programme backed by the then prime minister David Cameron to find measures other than economic indicators to guide government policies.

Official surveys ask people to

score how happy they were the previous day, how satisfied they were with their lives, how worthwhile they felt their lives were, and how anxious they were.

Yesterday’s ratings, covering the 12 months to the end of June, put the happiness level at 7.54, compared with 7.29 in June 2012.

Life satisfaction and the sense that life is worthwhile have also risen – to 7.69 and 7.88 – while anxiety has dropped below the three out of ten mark to 2.87.

Brexit worries appear to have had little effect on people’s sense

of wellbeing. The three happiness measures have all risen since the EU referendum was held in the summer of 2016, while anxiety levels have been falling since the autumn of 2016.

The ONS said the proportion of people who reported low levels of happiness decreased from 8.48 per cent to 8.08 per cent over the year to June.

The share of the population that reported very low ratings of anxiety increased from 40.09 per cent to 40.98 cent.

Its report said: ‘These positive

changes across the UK may be influenced by the improvement of certain economic indicators such as the unemployment rate.

‘Labour market figures covering the period April to June 2018 showed that the unemployment rate was at its lowest level since December 1974 to February 1975, at 4 per cent.

‘Also, average weekly earnings for employees in Great Britain increased by 2.7 per cent compared with a year earlier.

‘Additionally, Ipsos MORI research from May 2018 suggested

that the British public are becoming more confident in the UK economy with the majority of the nation – 51 per cent – rating the economic situation as good.’

The ONS also said the number of households in which no one worked was down by 964,000 since 2010, and the number of children living in benefit-dependent workless homes fell by 637,000.

Employment minister Alok Sharma said: ‘More children are growing up in working households. As a result they are getting a better start in life.’