Mumbai: The September wave of Ipsos IndiaBus happiness monitor shows happiness has stayed steady in September with no change in happiness levels. However, 69 per cent of urban Indians claim to be happy.
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Interestingly, the cohorts that emerged happiest were full-time students (74 per cent), homemakers (73 per cent), women (71 per cent) and those with higher education (70 per cent).
94 per cent of urban Indians living in tier-one towns claimed to be happy. Urban Indians in the west and north were happier than those in the South and East. 87 per cent of urban Indians living in the west zone were happy and similarly, 77 per cent of those living in the north zone claimed to be happy. Only 54 per cent of those living in the South Zone were seen to be happy. And only one in two (50 per cent) in the east per cent one were happy. The trend was seen across demographics.
Overall, happiness has surged for family (+1 per cent), situation of the world (+3 per cent), situation of the country (+2 per cent), and neighbours (+1 per cent); and decreased for health (-2 per cent), economic/ financial conditions (-1 per cent), colleagues/ business associates (-2 per cent), employment or work (-1 per cent) and with no change around friends’ circle, in September, over the previous month.
Looking at the pecking order of happiness contributors for urban Indians, it was led by family (74 per cent), health (65 per cent), friends’ circle (62 per cent), employment or work (59 per cent), colleagues/ business associates (55 per cent), neighbours (54 per cent), economic/ financial conditions (53 per cent), situation of the country (47 per cent) and situation of the world (42 per cent).
Commenting on the findings of the survey, ESG & CSR group service line leader, public affairs, and corporate reputation, Parijat Chakraborty said, "Happiness Levels have held steady and family continues to be the biggest driving force in infusing happiness. The happiness monitor also shows happiness is defined by different aspects of our daily life. It is about close family ties, social framework and societal engagement, work environment and colleagues, financial conditions, how the country is being run and how the global scenario looks. The G20 Summit has rubbed off on the perception of India and the world and is being positively manifested in the happiness monitor in September. Likewise, work and colleagues and increasing work pressures have slightly dented happiness levels. Women and homemakers seem happier with their "me" time."
"West and North zones have seen a maximum boom in terms of jobs, access to the best of facilities and overall development. Tier one towns are the emerging centres of consumerism. Seeing a major boost in quality of life and happiness," added Chakraborty.
Methodology
Ipsos IndiaBus is a monthly pan-India omnibus (which also runs multiple client surveys), that uses a structured questionnaire and is conducted by Ipsos India on diverse topics among 2200+ respondents from SEC A, B and C households, covering adults of both genders from all four zones in the country. The survey is conducted in metros, Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns, providing a more robust and representative view of urban Indians. The respondents were polled face-to-face and online. We have a city-level quota for each demographic segment that ensures the waves are identical and no additional sampling error. The data is weighted by demographics and city-class population to arrive at the national average. Data collection is done every month and the results are calculated on a two-month rolling sample.
