The Generalitat has presented the results of the first survey on the subjective well-being indicator, a study to find out the satisfaction with life that Catalans have. In this sense, the results indicate that 40% of the 4,000 people interviewed for the preparation of the report have rated their satisfaction with life with a grade between 8 and 10, with an average of 6.9. The Government’s intention is that this survey provides data to improve public policies.
Although due to the typology of the sample and the period of the field work, the studies are not directly comparable, the results from Catalonia place the level of life satisfaction of Catalans within similar parameters to their surrounding countries (European average of 6 .7 according to the latest OECD Better Life Index report, Spanish average of 6.4 according to the latest World Happiness Report or European average of 7.1 according to the latest Living Conditions Survey of 2022).
Furthermore, the study has identified twelve key factors that Catalans link with life satisfaction and that have been statistically the most relevant: health (mentioned by 38%), family (also 38%), economic situation (34%), the work environment (33%), personal life (28%), emotional well-being (20%), discomfort –includes aspects such as loneliness or worries– (6%), purposes (6 %), the uses of time and leisure (6%), the political and global context (5%), housing (5%) and mental health (3%).
It must be taken into account that these percentages do not describe the importance of the factors, but rather the frequency with which they have been mentioned by the respondents. There are factors with a lower percentage such as mental health that, despite being less mentioned, are key to detecting more vulnerable groups, since they are closely linked to much lower levels of satisfaction with life.
The study highlights that Catalans feel high levels of partial satisfaction in the education received (7.6) and family life (7.4), while the time dedicated to sport (5.5), their own economic situation (5.9) and the economic conditions of work (6), stand out as the aspects with which they feel least happy. In relation to the importance of these aspects, the state of health (8.8), family life (8.6) and the time available for the family (8.4) are the aspects that have the most relevance.
In this sense, other notable aspects of the study (which can be consulted on the indicatorbenestar.gencat.cat website) is that the level of life satisfaction increases with age, level of education and income (retired people are one of the the most satisfied groups, with an average of 7.2) or that people who give a higher score highlight aspects related to health, family, personal life or emotional well-being. On the contrary, on the other side of the scale, the people surveyed who feel more dissatisfied put more emphasis on economic vulnerability, housing, mental health or discomfort (linked to loneliness), among others.
The subjective well-being indicator will be one more tool for the Government to have information about the state of citizens and their needs (or aspects that must be reinforced and/or improved) and to be able to apply measures in the different necessary areas.
Planning for 2024 foresees four waves of surveys to monitor the level of perceived well-being with a total of 10,000 people. This regular monitoring will make it possible to detect changes in trends, have more detailed information on specific groups and the evolution of different factors.
