In 2018 the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SURS), which keeps an excellent website, carried out a survey to find the self-assessed wellbeing of people living in Slovenia aged 16 and over. Various areas of life were covered, with responses ranging from 0 for not at all satisfied, to 10 for completely satisfied.
Love and money
The results showed that people were most satisfied with their personal relationships, those with family, friends, neighbours and co-workers, which got an overall rating of 8.6. Moreover, the vast majority of respondents (92%) rated their degree of satisfaction with this area of their life as 7 or above, with pupils and students being the group most satisfied in this regard.
Turning to money, the average level of satisfaction was 6.3, with 17% of respondents answering from 0 to 4, 39% 7 or 8, and 13% 9 and 10.
Work and play
Job satisfaction got an average of 7.5, with the results showing no significant differences between those employed and self-employed, or between men and women. The highest job satisfaction was found for occupations in the field of information & communication and education (both at 8.1), while the lowest (7.1) was reported by those working in wholesale and retail trade, and the repair of motor vehicles.With regard to the mount of free time people had to enjoy, the average satisfaction was 7.2, with a third of respondents giving ratings of 9 or 10. There were no great differences between men and women on this point.
What are the secrets to satisfaction?
The average assessment of overall life satisfaction was 7.3, with a person’s response being heavily dependent on their health, while their position in the labour market, financial situation, leisure, friends, personal relationships, and so on also had predictable impacts.
Those respondents who stated that they were happy all the time rated their overall satisfaction at 8.5, while those who reported never feeling happy in the previous four weeks rated it 4.5
The level of satisfaction is also closely related to feeling happy. Those who were happy all the time assessed their overall life satisfaction with 8.5, while those who in the past four weeks were never happy assessed their overall life satisfaction with 4.5.
Nervous and calm
The survey also asked how nervous people had felt in the previous four weeks, with 12% of respondents saying they were nervous all or nearly all the time, with 14% of women saying this and 10% of men. While young people were happier than old people, they were also more nervous, with this being reported by an incredible 24% of young women, compared to 11% of young men.
Finally, just under two-thirds of people (62%) stated that they felt calm most of the time in the previous four weeks, with slightly more women than men giving this response.
You can see more on this data at SURS
