Survey finds Hongkongers are less happy than they were last year
General drop in satisfaction with living environment and public health care services, while young people more likely to feel discouraged when confronted with failure
Hongkongers are slightly less happy than they were last year, according to a recent survey, with those working for longer hours particularly affected.
Using a scale of zero to 100 - with 100 being the happiest - the study, which has been conducted by Lingnan University's centre for public policy studies every year since 2005, found Hongkongers' overall happiness score fell slightly from 70.5 last year to 70 this year.
Consistent with results of previous surveys, women were found to be happier than men. Housewives and retirees were happier than students and those who worked full time.
Among the 913 people surveyed from late September to early October this year, 478 were aged 30 to 59 and 140 were aged 21 to 29.
"There was a drop in the score of young people who do not feel discouraged when facing failure ... yet, to my surprise, they are slightly happier overall this year," the centre's researcher, Professor Ho Lok-sang, said.
"There have been many happiness surveys done in recent years ... but depending on how you ask the questions, results may vary."
Admitting his own survey also had a margin of error, Ho added the result this year showed a drop in satisfaction with standards of living and public health care services, regardless of the age group of the respondents.
On a cheerier note, Ho said respondents earning less than HK$20,000 a month felt slightly happier this year, which he said could be attributed to the increase in the statutory minimum wage from HK$30 to HK$32.5 this year.
In a separate telephone poll - conducted by the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at Chinese University last month - researchers found 52 per cent of people said social mobility had deteriorated compared with 10 years ago. Just 9.7 per cent of the 714 people aged 18 and over said it had improved and about a third indicated "in-between".
The survey also found, despite a call by the community in recent years to encourage young people in Hong Kong to develop their careers on the mainland, just a fifth of the respondents thought going north would result in a higher chance of success for young people, with nearly a third thinking the opposite.
