We're (sort of) happy and we know it

David Knox • Published 25 Jul 2012 09:30

WE'RE reasonably happy - according to the Government.

Statistics released this week show that the Scottish Borders is in the top quarter of UK regions to be when it comes to satisfaction, well-being and feeling worthwhile.

But we've a bit of catching up to do on the smiley, happy people of the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland.

The findings come from the first set of well-being figures published by the Office for National Statistics as part of Westminster's £2 million-a-year project to measure the nation's happiness.

A total of 879 Borderers were questioned as part of the nationwide survey. And we fare much higher than either the UK or Scottish averages in all three sections.

On a score from 0 (not at all) to 10 (completely) we are 7.62 when it comes to Satisfaction compared to a national mean of 7.41.

For Being Happy Yesterday we scored 7.50, which again compares favourably to the rest of Scotland at 7.28.

And the final check found that we score 7.79 for feeling Worthwhile - compared to 7.66 for the country as a whole.

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "Today's figures on life satisfaction and subjective wellbeing show that the majority of Scotland's people feel positive about their lives, and that generally satisfaction levels are higher than in England and Wales.

"Of course, we must not be complacent, and there are Scots in some areas and communities whose lives still need to be improved."

While the islands to the north were the happiest areas in Scotland, Glasgow and North Ayrshire scored the lowest.

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This article appeared in Border Telegraph 25 Jul 12

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