More than half the population of Wales happy for the first time since before the pandemic, poll shows

A rolling YouGov poll asking people if they’re happy or not has had a positive response in Wales for the first time since summer 2019.

YouGov has asked people across the UK every week whether they’re happy or not, and the 12th of August 2019 was the last time 50% or more of people in Wales said that they were.

Wales is also the only part of the UK to return to majority happiness. London has the lowest happiness rating at 46%.

The nadir for happiness in Wales came in December 2020 when only 34% of people in Wales responded to say they were happy.

At the time, a Wales-wide lockdown was brought forward to before Christmas, with festive plans cancelled for all but Christmas Day.

However, since 17th March, Wales has seen a surge of people describing themselves as happy, rising from 42% in February to 52% in the latest poll.

It brings Wales back into line for the first time with pre-pandemic levels, with 52% saying they were happy when the poll started on 27th June 2019.

Stress

Sadness peaked at 31% in January 2021, but is now down to 25%. Loneliness also peaked at 21% the early months of last year. ‘Frustrated’ peaked in May 2020, just after the announcement of the first pandemic lockdown.

However, the same poll reveals that the people of Wales are currently at their most stressed, with 47% saying that they are. The numbers saying they were stressed dipped quickly after the first lockdown was called, from 42% in February to 33% in June 2020, but have now returned and surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

Boredom also surged from 15% to a high of 36% after the first lockdown was called, with the number saying thy were scared jumping to 19% at the same time before levelling off.

YouGov interview 1890 – 2081 GB Adults every week as part of the poll.