People in the north are happiest

„satisfaction level“ currently as high as ever

09/10/2014

Where are the people in Germany happiest? Like the current one „German lucky atlas 2014“ Deutsche Post shows that the most satisfied citizens live in the north, whereas most of the dissatisfied live in East Germany. Overall, however, the Germans had never been so happy over such a long period of time as today, which puts Germany in ninth place in the European satisfaction comparison.

German post is fourth „Fortunately Atlas“ in front
A life in the north of Germany obviously has a positive effect on well-being, because apparently the most contented people live here nationwide. This is from the „German lucky atlas 2014“ which Deutsche Post has recently presented in Berlin. Accordingly, Schleswig-Holstein is as in the previous year with a „happiness index“ of 7.3 the most satisfied region in Germany, closely followed by Hamburg with a value of 7.18 and Lower Saxony / North Sea (7.15). But also the southern German regions would have increased according to the study in the luck ranking, for example, Hessen and Baden come to each of 7.08 points. On the other hand, the situation is different in the eastern German states, because according to the atlas, people there are the most dissatisfied. The lowest value reaches here Brandenburg with 6.6 points, which according to the German Post „[...] the gap to the most satisfied region of Schleswig-Holstein is considerable“.

"Satisfaction Plateau" at such a high level historically new
Despite this, the study was able to „satisfaction level“ the Germans also hold in the fourth year as a result on a scale of 0 to 10 at 7 points. Thus, the country would be - scientifically - on a "satisfaction plateau", which „it has not existed at this level and over such a period of time“, so the message of the German post office. to „Measuring luck“ Professor Bernd Raffelhüschen, Tim Sutor and Johannes Vatter from the University of Freiburg had analyzed the data of the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and a current representative survey of the Institute for Demoscopy Allensbach with 6094 people, ages 16 and up.

Older people happier than the 35- to 64-year-olds
Accordingly, people have never been so happy in historical comparison as at the moment, because ten years ago, the happiness level was still at 6.6 points, the information of Deutsche Post on. This concerns above all the older population, because as the Freiburg researchers further found out, the satisfaction level is higher among the 65 to 69 year olds than the 35 to 64 year olds. This makes Germany one of the few countries in Europe in which a positive development has taken place in recent years. This would put Germany in 9th position in the European ranking - but still a long way from the leaders Denmark and Sweden.

Furthermore clear differences between East and West
In addition, the evaluations showed that there are still differences between the western and eastern German states in terms of life satisfaction. According to this, people in the East are on average 0.36 points more dissatisfied than in the West - a step backward, because two years ago the difference had „just“ 0.2 points. For Jürgen Gerdes, the board member Post - eCommerce - Parcel of Deutsche Post DHL, but no new phenomenon: „The reasons for this lie in the still poorer economic conditions in the East - this applies in particular to employment and the lower wage level.“

Significant skepticism towards "inclusive society"
In addition, the fourth edition of the Swiss Fortune Atlas focused on the satisfaction of people with disabilities and the status of inclusion in Germany. A highly topical subject, because alone the proportion of severely disabled people in Germany represent with more than seven million just under 9% of the total German population, so Jürgen Gerdes continues. Nevertheless, the very positive basic attitude towards an inclusive society would be met with considerable skepticism, because only one third of Germans would believe that this form of company was actually fully implementable. For example, more than a quarter of respondents (27 percent) opposed that children with and without disabilities are taught together, and 44 percent also have an understanding of companies that would pay rather than employ workers with disabilities.

Respondents see a need for action in politics and society
This is also reflected in the personal happiness of those with severe disabilities, who are 0.9 points less satisfied with their lives than the general population, according to the Atlas. This applies above all to the areas of health, income, family life and work, with many people in particular wanting more support in dealing with offices and authorities. „We find it pensive that people with disabilities are less satisfied with their lives and that little has changed for many years“, Jürgen Gerdes continues. For the Board of Management a clear indication that politically and socially there is still considerable need for action from the point of view of respondents: „The question arises as to how we Germans can make our way to an inclusive society more successfully. Here, for example, Germany lags significantly behind the developments of Scandinavian countries or even Italy.“ (No)