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Happiness in Wales slumps back to level seen during the first Covid lockdown

05 Oct 2022 2 minute read
Photo by StockSnap from Pixabay

People’s happiness in Wales has slumped back to the level seen during the first Covid lockdown, according to a YouGov tracker.

YouGov measures the mood of people across the nations of the UK every week, asking them how they feel.

According to the latest results of the rolling tracker, only 38% of people in Wales describe themselves as feeling happy during the last week – back to the same level as experienced during the nadir of the first Covid lockdown in April 2020.

Happiness has slumped over ten points, from 49% in May of this year – its highest level at the time since December 2019 before Covid hit.

Those in Wales telling the pollster they are sad, at 29%, is also higher than at any point during the first lockdown.

Those telling YouGov they were optimistic fell to 14% – lower than at any point during the Covid pandemic and since the tracker began in July 2019.

The figures come as Wales has been battered by a cost of living crisis, including rising interest rates, inflation, and energy prices.

Happiness in Wales still four points higher than its lowest ever level during January 2021, in the middle of the second lockdown, following restrictions on people being able to meet up over Christmas of that year.

The poll asks “Broadly speaking, which of the following best describe your mood and/or how you have felt in the past week?” It gives those answering a range of options including happy, sad, stressed, optimistic and scared, and tells respondents to “select all that apply”.

Wales’ happiness score this week matched that of the rest of the UK as a whole, but unhappiness had risen much quicker at 28% to 24%.

Wales was at its happiest when the tracker began in July 2019, with 52% saying they were happy and only 22% sad, but after a series of UK and global crises the nation has not yet regained that level of contentment.


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George Atkinson
George Atkinson
1 year ago

Definitely nothing to do with that trash English government we have in charge of Wales that another country voted into power. Let’s deflect the blame onto immigrants.

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