Saturday, April 12, 2008

TODAY'S BRITS ARE WEALTHIER, HEALTHIER BUT NOT HAPPIER

According to the results of a recent report by the Office of National Statistics the majority of the British population are healthier and living much longer than in years gone by with many eating a more healthy diet and the number of people smoking has more than halved since 1974. Apparently the average life expectancy for men is now 77, compared with 82 for women. Interesting.

Apparently many Brits also have more money than in years gone by with individuals' net wealth more than doubling between 1987 and 2006. That's probably just as well as they need it with the way the cost of living has gone up here recently.

However despite being wealthier and healthier, today's Britons are no happier. According to the report results, once people reach a certain wealth level, having money makes absolutely no difference to their happiness. It seems the old saying, "Money can't buy happiness", is very true.

3 comments:

Sheila said...

Yet, the very poor and prone to awful circumstances here in the U.S. I can't think these folks are very happy. Many of the people I've met the last week fall in the category of poor. Poor health, poor income, poor housing--just plain poor everything.

Marion said...

Life is what it is...and having a lot of money doesn't necessarily make it happier...only I can do that.

Interesting, isn't it, how the cost of living has risen so that raises in income mean little?

Naomi said...

I always think seeing people so poor makes others appreciate what they have Sheila. I'm sure they aren't very happy but then again some people with very little are happier than those who have a lot.

I agree Marion. We are all in charge of our own destinys. It certainly is Marion, the cost of living in the U.K. has shot up tremendously just recently.