Press Release 11/06/2020

SURVEY ON PERSONAL WELL-BEING. 2019

The overall satisfaction with life of the Basque population stood at 7.4 in 2019, very influenced by health status

There were no significant differences between men and women

The population of the Basque Country scored 7.4 for satisfaction with life in general in 2019 on a scale of zero to ten, according to Eustat data. This score has improved since 2014, when it was 7.1.

The highest score (8.0) was found among people who reported having very good health, and the lowest (5.2) among those who considered themselves to be in poor or very poor health.

This indicator not only produced lower scores the poorer people's health was, but also the older they were, going from 7.8 among young people aged 16 to 24, to 7.3 among people aged 65 or older.

There were no differences between men and women, whereas in terms of the level of education, the best results came from people who received higher education (7.6), compared to those with no education (6.5).

As for the relationship with activity, unemployed people gave one of the lowest scores (6.7).

As regards economic situation, people who think they have a good situation are the most satisfied with their life (7.7), compared to those who believe their situation is bad (6.6).

Another factor that influences this indicator is the closeness of family relationships, as those who are most satisfied with their life (7.4) report having close family relationships, whereas the score for those who have no family relationship is 6.8.

The Value of Life indicator received the highest score: 7.8

The value of one's own life, or the view that life is worthwhile, reached an average score of 7.8, just three tenths more than in 2014, with 64.2% rating it as “high” compared to 3.0% of the population who considered it to be “low”.

The highest score (8.2) was also found among people who reported having very good health, and the lowest (5.9) among those who considered themselves to be in poor or very poor health.

There was a slightly better score among women (7.9) than men (7.7), while at the level of province of residence there were no significant differences.

In terms of the relationship with activity, employed people valued their life more (7.9), compared to unemployed people (7.3) and inactive people (7.7).

As for the level of education, the best results came from people who received higher education (8.0), compared to those with no education (6.9).



Personal relationships were the second highest rated aspect (7.5)

The evaluation of personal relationships decreased as people got older. In the same way as the previous indicators, it achieved its highest score (7.7) among people who reported having very good health and its lowest (6.9) among those who considered themselves to be in poor or very poor health.

Unemployed people (7.4) had worse personal relationships than those in employment or inactive people (7.6 in both cases), whilst there were no significant differences between men and women, or by province of residence.

As for place of birth, the lowest score was from the group of people born abroad (7.3).

Satisfaction with housing and surroundings was high across practically all the groups

For the Satisfaction with housing and surroundings indicator (7.3 on average), the best results (7.6) came from people with very good health, decreasing as perceived health decreased, reaching its lowest (6.6) among people whose health was poor or very poor.

As regards the level of education, the best results came from people with vocational training studies (7.4), compared to those with no education (6.8).

There are practically no differences as regards province of residence, whereas men (7.4) are more satisfied with their housing and surroundings than women (7.2).

State of mind is the only indicator that has worsened since 2014

The state of mind indicator, the average of which for the total population was 6.3 (two tenths less than in 2014), received a lower score among people with poor or very poor health (5.0) and a higher score among those who reported their health to be good or very good (6.8).

This indicator improves the better the economic situation, exceeding the average those who consider their situation to be good (6.4).

At provincial level, people resident in Bizkaia (6.2) had the lowest score, as opposed to residents of Lava and Gipuzkoa, whose average scores reached 6.3 and 6.4 respectively. In terms of place of birth, those born in other Autonomous Regions (6.2) or abroad (6.3) had a less positive state of mind.

This indicator obtained a higher score among men (6.5) than women (6.2) and, with regards to ages, people aged 50 to 64 felt the worst, with a score of 6.2.

Elderly people were the ones most satisfied with their leisure time

With an average Satisfaction with leisure time of 6.7, people aged 65 and over gave the highest score (7.5) whilst those aged 35 to 49 gave the lowest (6.0). Inactive people also gave a good score (7.3), the opposite of what occurred for those in work (6.1).

Men (6.7) were slightly more satisfied than women (6.6), and this was also the case for people born in other Autonomous Regions (7.1), compared to those born in the Basque Country or abroad, whose scores were below the average.

As regards their economic situation, people who think they have a good situation are the most satisfied with their leisure time (6.9), compared to those who believe their situation is bad (6.1).

Satisfaction with the household economy improved 0.5 points compared to 2014

The indicator Satisfaction with the household economy (6.9) increased as perceived health increased, varying from 5.6 among people with poor or very poor health to 7.4 for those who considered themselves to be in very good health.

Residents of Gipuzkoa were more satisfied (7.0) than residents of Álava or Bizkaia (6.9 and 6.8, respectively) and also those born in Gipuzkoa (7.1), in relation to those born in Álava (7.0), Bizkaia (6.9) and, above all, those born abroad (6.4).

As for age, it was observed, curiously, that the group of young people aged 16 to 24 (7.3) were the most satisfied and there were no differences between men and women.

The worst score in this indicator, which did not even reach the category of satisfactory, was in the unemployed population (4.9), as opposed to the score of 7.1 for those in work.

Trust in people is very influenced by perceived health

The Trust in people indicator (6.5) achieved its highest score (6.9) among those who considered their health to be very good, whereas the lowest (5.3) was among those who perceived their health to be poor or very poor.

Trust was "high" for 32.2% of the population, whilst it was "low" for 10.9%.

Women (6.6) had slightly more trust than men (6.4), and people resident in Gipuzkoa (6.6) had more trust than those in Álava and Bizkaia (6.5).

Trust in the public authorities obtained the lowest result (4.5), although this is the indicator that has improved the most (1.2 points) in respect of 2014

Only 5.4% of the population trusts the public authorities "a lot", compared with 45.1% who have "little" trust in them. It's the only indicator with an average below the approved.

In all the population groups the public authorities failed, except in people born abroad, which achieved the highest score (5.4).

Trust among women (4.6) was slightly higher than among men (4.5) and, in terms of age, people between16 and 24 years old (4.2) were the age group who had the most trust in the political and legal systems and the police (4.9), compared to the score of 4.4 for the 25-34 age group.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62