Level of happiness in Turkey goes down in 2020: Survey

Levels of self-reported happiness among individuals aged 18 and over in Turkey were 48.2 percent in 2020, slightly down from 52.4 percent in 2019, according to a life satisfaction survey released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) last week.

The survey showed that the proportion of individuals who said they were unhappy was 13.1 percent in 2019 and 14.5 percent in 2020.

The rate of people who said “I am neither happy nor unhappy” made a slight jump from 34.6 to 37.3 in a year. The life satisfaction survey also indicated that Turkish women are happier than men.

While the rate of happiness among females was 57.0 percent in 2019, it was 53.1 percent in 2020. The rate of males who mentioned that they were happy was 47.6 percent in 2019, a slight increase from 43.2 percent in 2020.

It was seen that married individuals were happier than unmarried individuals.

While the proportion of married individuals who said they were happy was 51.7 percent, this proportion was 41.3 percent for unmarried ones in 2020.

When the level of happiness of married individuals was analyzed by sex, it was seen that 46.7 percent of married males and 56.8 percent of married females were happy.

Families were the source of their happiness, the survey showed.

While the proportion of individuals who said their families made them happiest was 69.7 percent, it was followed by children with 15.0 percent, themselves with 4.2 percent, parents with 3.6 percent, spouse with 3.5 percent and grandchildren with 2.2 percent, respectively.

When the level of happiness was analyzed by age groups, the highest level of happiness was at 65 and over age group.

The percent of happiness at this group was 57.7 in 2020 with a small decrease from 58.5.

The lowest level of happiness was seen in the 55-64 age group with 48.7 percent in 2019. The sentiment moved to the 35-44 age group, with 45.4 percent, in 2020.

The survey also demonstrated that “being healthy made individuals happiest.”

When the values as source of happiness were analyzed in 2020, the year of the coronavirus pandemic, the rate of the individuals who said their health made them happiest was 70.9 percent. It was followed by “love” with 12.8 percent, “success” with 8.8 percent, “money” with 4.6 percent and “job” with 2.3 percent, respectively.

When the level of happiness was analyzed by the level of education, it was seen that the highest level of happiness was seen among individuals who did not graduate from any school with 54.4 percent in 2020.

It was followed by individuals who were primary school graduates with 50.3 percent, high school and equivalent graduates with 46.8 percent, higher education graduates with 46.1 percent, primary education or junior high school graduates with 44.2 percent.

But seven out of every 10 people were hopeful about their own future, according to the survey.

The proportion of individuals who indicated they were hopeful about their own future was 69.6 percent in 2020. While the proportion of males who were hopeful about their own future was 68.5 percent, this proportion was 70.7 percent for females.