You may think that people in Russia are an unhappy bunch. (We all know that Russians don’t smile, so they must be unhappy, right? Not at all!)
The latest poll by WCIOM.ru shows that today citizens of the largest country on Earth (yes, i’s neatly double the size of the USA geographically) are happier than ever.
By the way, 1 May is the Labour Day in Russia. If you are talking to a lady from this country, find out what she is doing today and send your greetings!
86% of Russians are happy
The happiness index recorded the highest level of contentment since its inception.
- The index of happiness reached 75% in April 2019 — since 1990 when the measurements were taken for the first time, that’s the highest level.
- 86% of respondents consider themselves happy (“definitely yes” or “rather yes”).
- Only 11% of Russian women and men are unhappy.
- In the group aged 25-34 years, 90% of respondents are happy. (At the same time, 44% of guys and girls in Russia under 30 wish to emigrate.)
- Among the people who consider themselves to belong to middle class or above, 94% of respondents are optimistic.
- In general, when asked whether people considered themselves happy or unhappy, 75% of respondents are positive about their situation in life.
Surprisingly, even though the personal level of happiness is the highest to date, only 32% of survey participants believe there that the majority of their friends and acquaintances are happy.
12% of respondents observe more unhappy people around them, while the majority (52%) think the number of grumpy and optimistic folks is about the same.
This is how the Happiness Index changed since 1990:
What makes people in Russia happy?
- Family: 33%
- One’s own health, as well as the good health of family and friends: 21%
- Kids: 18%
- A good job: 17%
- Good financial situation: 11%
- Overall life satisfaction: 10%
What makes people in Russia feel unhappy?
- Lack of money: 11%
- Current situation in the country: 11%
- Sadness: 6%
- No stability: 5%
- Low wages: 5%
- Delayed wages: 5%
About delayed wages, it’s common in Russia for people to get monthly wages 2-3 months after the period they worked. For instance, in May you are getting wages for January. Yes, it’s not a joke!
Employers manage the company’s cash flow in this way, and since so many of them are doing that, people can’t hope to get a better treatment elsewhere.
However, only 5% of employees feel unhappy because of that, if we look at WCIOM’s data.
Read also:
- 10 differences between dating mature Russian ladies vs. young girls
- ‘I am going to marry a Russian woman’ — A true life story
- Half of Russians don’t work in profession they studied
- Photos, video will decide results in your dating Russian women
“In the group aged 25-34 years, 90% of respondents are happy. (At the same time, 44% of guys and girls in Russia under 30 wish to emigrate.)”
Am I the only one who a bit puzzled?
Robert, obviously 😉
“The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence”.
It’s not puzzling. They are happy with what they have but, they want out.
Russia is doing just fine. U.S.A. debt just got over 100% of GDP. Russia is at 17%. The E.U. is 86%. Russia now has Crimea. They also have de-fact control of Abkhazia giving her lots of warm climate, sea coast and mountain real estate. Development is everywhere in these places. Russia has the most oil and precious metal in the ground in the world. New battery technology uses a metal that only exists in substantial quantities in Russia and China. The greatest resource Russia has is Russians! Crimea, Afghanistan and Syria were all wars between Russia and the U.S. …Russia… Read more »
Why are Russians happy? Each city has a large-scale residential development. Each house has dozens of expensive cars parked. Our tax to incomes of physical persons is 13%. The Russian tax authority is deprived of punitive and investigative functions. The rule is: steal and let other’s steal.