South West 'best' for happiness

South West 'best' for happiness

Middle class people in the South West of England are happiest and those in the South East most miserable, a survey suggests.

The YouGov questionnaire asked people if they were "very happy" and only 28% in the South East said yes.

In contrast, the South West enjoyed one of the lowest stress figures.

Business leaders hope it will encourage more to relocate to Cornwall, which while being apparently happy, is also the poorest county in England.

The annual gross domestic product in the region is just 65% of the UK average.

HAPPINESS INDEX

1 South West

2 West Midlands

3 East Midlands

4 East of England

5 London

6= North East/West

8 Yorkshire and The Humber

9 South East

John Berry, managing director of Cornwall Enterprise, which commissioned the survey, said: "We often hear from companies based in or relocated to Cornwall that they experience high levels of happiness here.

"The regional well-being index proves that this is shared across the South West."

YouGov quizzed more than 2,500 people from social classes A, B and C1 across England, asking them four questions about happiness at home and at work, work-life balance and stress.

The South West only just beat the West Midlands to the top spot, with the lowest performers Yorkshire and Humber and the South East.

Cary Cooper, professor of psychology at Lancaster University, said the key reason was a less frenetic lifestyle in rural areas compared with urban areas.

Mr Cooper told BBC News: "Along with the divide in rural and urban areas is the freneticism of life.

"More industry and big populations mean that people do not talk to one another so much."

He said the sheer physical glamour of the South West's environment - from its beaches to the moors - helped produce a feeling of well-being, but that was not enough.

He said: "The key is that people like to live in a community and that's not possible in a big city.

"There's everything in urban areas - films, theatre, public transport, but there is an anonymous feel to the big urban area."

When compared with the rest of England average, people in Cornwall reported higher levels - up to 4% - of well-being at home (37%) and at work (18%), work-life balance (12%) and lower stress levels (27%).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/5253084.stm

--------

So it's offical, Dave is happy :D