The level of self-reported happiness among all individuals in Turkey was 58 percent in 2017, down slightly from 61.3 percent in 2016, according to figures released by the Turkish Statistics Institute (TurkStat) on Friday.
According to a report by the Hürriyet Daily News, while 64.5 percent of women said they were happy in 2016, only 62.4 percent said the same in 2017, and 53.6 percent of men said they were happy in 2017, down from 58.1 percent the previous year, TurkStat’s “Life Satisfaction Survey” revealed.
In terms of age, the happiest age group in 2017 was the 65 years and above group, while the 45-54 age bracket was the unhappiest. In 2016 people aged 18-24 had the highest self-reported happiness.
Married people were happier than singles in 2017: 60.6 percent compared to 52.4 percent. Some 65.2 percent of married women and 55.7 percent of married men said they were happy.
Among workers, the highest satisfaction level was seen in workers in public security services in 2017, 74.4 percent of whom said they were happy. They were followed by workers in transportation services at 72.3 percent, health services at 71.7 percent, Social Security Institution (SSK) services at 62.5 percent, the education sector at 54.6 percent and workers in the justice system at 54.1 percent.
The survey also revealed that less educated people are happier. The happiness rate for individuals who did not complete school was 62.5 percent in 2017. The rate for primary school graduates was 57.7 percent, for high school graduates 57.4 percent and the rate for higher education graduates was 56.9 percent.
A full 70.6 percent of respondents said the thing that made them happiest was their family. Children were cited by 14.3 percent of respondents, spouses were cited by 5.4 percent, parents by 3.2 percent, and grandchildren were cited by 1.9 percent of respondents.
When respondents were asked about the most important factor of happiness, 68 percent chose “health.” “Love” came second with 16.6 percent, “success” was cited by 9 percent, “money” by 3.9 percent and “work” was cited by 1.9 percent.
A slightly lower number of people were optimistic about the future compared with 2016, 73.4 percent in 2017 against 76.8 percent in 2016. The survey canvassed private households in Turkey of residents 18 years and older.
