20 March is the International Day of Happiness. For the occasion, the Budapest, Hungary-based research institute Mária Kopp Institute for Demography and Families (KINCS) has released the 2024 edition of their Wellbeing Barometer, a large-scale survey that measures the satisfaction level of the Hungarian people.
From 2021 to 2024 Hungarians rated their level of happiness at 7.4 on average on a scale of one to ten—one being the least satisfied and ten being the most satisfied. In last year specifically, the average score was 7.3.
KINCS found a correlation between happiness level and marital status. Married people have rated themselves the happiest at an average of 7.7, followed closely by cohabiting couples at 7.6. Meanwhile, single people rated their satisfaction at 6.7 on average, followed by divorced people at 6.6, and widowed people at 6.4.
‘People with large families also reported themselves to be happier than the average’
People caring for young children were the subcategory with the highest recorded satisfaction level at 8.1. People with large families also reported themselves to be happier than the average, with a score of 7.4.
Female respondents reported a higher happiness level than their male counterparts in the 2024 survey, although by only one-tenth of a percentage point (7.3 against 7.2). Also, in a continuing trend KINCS has observed in the last four years, young people have been more satisfied with their state of affairs than older people last year as well. The 18–29 age group rated themselves at 7.6 on the happiness scale, participants aged 30–49 rated themselves at 7.5, while those aged between 50–65 rated themselves at 7.1. People above the age of 65 were the least satisfied age group in the survey, reporting an average happiness score of 6.9.
The Maria Kopp Institute for Demography and Families was founded in 2018 by the Hungarian government to promote forming families and having children among the Hungarian public, and find solutions to the country’s demographic challenge of declining population.
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