4159.0 - General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia, 2010  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/09/2011   
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LIFE SATISFACTION

The Overall Life Satisfaction measure provides an indication of how people regard their life as a whole, reflecting their experience in the 12 months preceding the survey interview and their expectations for the future. In 2010, 43% of people aged 18 years or over were pleased or delighted with their life and a further three in ten people (34%) were mostly satisfied and together, very similar to the 76% of Australians as reported in the 2001 ABS National Health Survey.

2.2 OVERALL LIFE SATISFACTION(a)
Graph: 2.2 OVERALL LIFE SATISFACTION(a)


Overall life satisfaction varied somewhat with age. People aged 65-74 years old were the most likely to be at least satisfied with their lives (83%) while those aged 45-54 years old were the least likely to be at least satisfied with their lives (73%).

2.3 Proportion of adults at least satisfied with their lives(a), by age
Graph: 2.3 Proportion of adults at least satisfied with their lives(a), by age


Aspects of people's lives such as health status and other differing socio-economic circumstances all have a strong influence on how satisfied people were likely to report being with their lives (see table below). People with poorer self-assessed health status were, on average, less likely to be satisfied with their lives. Similarly, fewer people who were separated from their partners or who had little or no contact with family or friends living outside the household reported being at least satisfied with their lives. Rates of satisfaction with their lives were also lower, on average, for people who were unemployed, those living in government housing and those in lower income quintiles.

2.4 Proportion of persons aged 18 and over who were at least satisfied with their lives : Selected characteristics(a)

%

Registered marital status
Never married
76
Widowed
78
Married
82
Divorced
66
Separated
56
Self-assessed Health Status
Excellent/Very good
87
Good
74
Poor
55
Contact with family and friends living outside the household(b)
At least once a week
78
At least once a month
71
At least once in three months
69
No recent contact
33
No family and no friends
28
Labour force status
Employed
81
Unemployed
58
Not in the labour force - Retired
76
Not in the labour force - Other
69
Tenure type
Owner(c)
80
Renter with a private landlord
75
Renter with State/Territory housing authority
56
Equivalised household gross weekly income(d)
Lowest quintile
66
Second quintile
72
Third quintile
78
Fourth quintile
82
Highest quintile
86

(a) Persons who felt Delighted, Pleased or Mostly satisfied with their lives based on a scale of Delighted, Pleased, Mostly satisfied, Mixed, Mostly dissatisfied, Unhappy and Terrible.
(b) Includes face-to-face contact and/or contact by other means such as telephone, email and mail, which a person has had with family or friends who do not live with them.
(c) 'Owner' includes persons who lived in dwellings which are owner-occupied, both with and without a mortgage.
(d) Excludes persons where household income was not known or was not adequately reported. See Appendix 2 for information on income equivalisation and quintile measures.








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