When it comes to quality of life, many Scots simply long for more shut-eye

One in three Scots complain that they are well-rested just some of the time, writes Chris Mccall

Anationwide survey of issues affecting quality of life has found that one in three Scots complain they are not getting enough sleep.

The inaugural Sainsbury’s Living Well Index, based on a nationally representative study into how Britons feel about their quality of life, revealed factors associated with living well.

In Scotland, one in three say they feel well-rested “just some of the time” and only one-in-five say they regularly feel well-rested.

Other issues regularly mentioned by Scots were concerns over job security – 65 per cent felt settled in their current role – and integration with their local community, with a majority making the effort to speak to neighbours at least once a week.

The index, created by Sainsbury’s in partnership with researchers Oxford Economics and the National Centre for Social Research, aims to define, measure and track what it really means to live well in the UK today.

It has been commissioned to help the retailer understand and engage on the aspects of everyday life that are holding people back.

In the first study of its kind, researchers asked a nationally representative panel of 8,250 people questions covering 60 different aspects of their behaviour, how they live and how they feel.

The average Briton has a Living Well score of 62.2 out of a maximum of 100. Those in Scotland had a score of 62.6 the study found – marginally higher than the typical national score.

Those living best are defined as the 20 per cent of the population with the highest scores – falling between 72 and 92.

Ian Mulheirn, director of consulting at Oxford Economics, said: “Wellbeing is rising up the agenda at a time of rapid change in how we live our lives, and we’ve created a critical new tool that can help us to unpick what’s driving our sense of living well, drawing on a unique, rolling survey of unprecedented breadth and granularity.

The analysis reveals that, in a world that’s 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.”