How Happy Are You?

This is what the ONS wants to know.

The Government hopes that they will gain a better insight into society from the survey than from traditional economic indicators and tests.

“At the moment there’s a fairly high level aspiration that policy should be based on more than just economic measures,” said Paul Allin, ONS programme director.

The 200,000 people involved will be asked to rank how “satisfied” they are and how “anxious” they felt the previous day.

From April, the ONS will ask:

• How satisfied are you with your life nowadays?

• How happy did you feel yesterday?

• How anxious did you feel yesterday?

• To what extent do you feel the things you do in your life are worthwhile?

Given my current economic situation, it’s fair to say that I am not particularly happy at the moment. A steady income would resolve that overnight. Well, almost overnight. Fortunately, I’ve not been asked to take part in any longitudinal studies –  or if I have been, I’ve told them where to get off before we even got that far.

But, and this is the crux; none of this is any concern of the ONS or the government. Their role is to do those things that we need collectively that we cannot achieve individually. Sure, the previous administration so destroyed the economy that it has, doubtless, contributed to a collective sense of unhappiness, but asking us how happy we are won’t help with that one iota.

What would make me very happy is to see government slash its activities –  and with it costs –  thereby reducing the amount of money it extorts from me in taxes. One obvious cut would be to disband the ONS. The answer then to the question; “are you happy?” Would be, “well, I’m a lot happier now.”