It’s official friends, Aussies aren’t as satisfied with life as we were 21 years ago. Happiness is at an all-time low and I’d wager the cost of living has something to do with it.
Deakin University and insurance company Australian Unity have teamed up yet again to release the results of their Australian Unity Wellbeing Index Survey, which has been telling us how happy we are in this country since 2001.
To get the official data on how miserable we all are, the two companies survey 2000 Aussies on seven key life areas, and turn those results into some tasty graphs for us to devour.
The 2022 results have just come out and show Aussies at the lowest level of life satisfaction since the survey started. I’d hate to see what 2023’s results are gonna be ‘cos I feel like they will not be pretty.
Survey results on the aforementioned seven key life areas also give us an insight into how Aussies are faring emotionally.
Feelings of “community connectedness” are at an all-time low, while “purpose in life”, “personal relationships” and “health” are dipping down on the charts.
In good news, “standard of living” and “future security” remain in line with other years, while feelings of “personal safety” have reached new highs.
So basically everyone is feeling safe in their very expensive homes while simultaneously feeling like they don’t connect as easily with others anymore or have any sort of purpose in life. Slay!
The survey also found that those aged 76 and up had the highest average wellbeing score. I’m not surprised that this lot of Aussies felt the happiest with their lives. Old money and affordable property would have me smiling too.
Aussies aged 18-25, on the other hand, ended up having the lowest average wellbeing score, citing “anxiety, stress, depression and climate” as sources of worry. Yeah, that sounds about right.
Unless the cost of living shifts drastically in the next couple of months I do not see these life satisfaction results remedying anytime soon. I guess we’ll just keep on pushing through unprecedented and difficult times until we see a glimmer of hope. What a time to be alive!
If you need mental health support, please call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or chat online.
Under 25? You can reach Kids Helpline at 1800 55 1800 or chat online.
If you require immediate assistance, please call 000.
