Wiltshire people fourth happiest

People in Wiltshire are the fourth happiest in the country according to the results of a survey.

Those who are married, have jobs and own their own homes are the most likely to be satisfied with their lives, the first national well-being survey says.

Council leader, Jane Scott, said: "This doesn't surprise me as the enthusiasm and the happiness I saw from our communities celebrating the Jubilee and the Torch relay was fantastic. More than 50 percent of people in the county came out and I think it shows what a strong community spirit we have in Wiltshire.

"We live in a beautiful county which is one of the safest and healthiest places to live, with low unemployment. However we must not rest on our laurels and, although the survey suggests older people and teenagers are the happiest groups, we must continue to work hard with our partners to support them."

As a general trend, people were the most satisfied with life in their teenage years and when they reached retirement age, with happiness levels dipping during middle age.

Those aged 16 to 19 and 65 to 79 reported satisfaction levels considerably higher than the UK average of 7.4 out of 10.

People living in built-up or former industrial areas, such as South Wales, the West Midlands or London, tended to be less happy, while rural areas, such as Orkney and Shetland, and Wiltshire were the happiest.

The scheme aims to provide a better understanding of how society is doing, and could help form future government policy.

Office for National Statistics wellbeing project director, Glenn Everett, said: "By examining and analysing both objective statistics as well as subjective information, a more complete picture of national well-being can be formed.

"Understanding people's views of well-being is an important addition to existing Official Statistics and has potential uses in the policy making process and to aid other decision making."