Europe’s happiest retirees live in Switzerland

Europe's happiest retirees live in Switzerland Keystone-SDA

Europe's happiest retirees live in Switzerland. Some 80% of people aged 65 to 80 living in Switzerland are very satisfied with their lives, according to a study.

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The survey of 2,063 people carried out by YouGov on behalf of the Swiss Life insurance company revealed that most of them were positive about their leisure activities, social contacts, health, mobility and travel.

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On average, people on high incomes were more satisfied than those on low incomes. In addition, the poorer the subjective state of health, the lower the overall level of satisfaction.

No gender difference

There was no difference between men and women, between those without children and those aged 65 or over with children, or between senior citizens with or without grandchildren. On the other hand, couples were happier than single people.

Nowhere in Europe is the proportion of the retired population as (very) happy with their lives as in Switzerland, adds Swiss Life, basing its calculations on Eurostat data. In other age groups too, the Swiss are generally happier than other Europeans.

In Scandinavia, Austria, Ireland and Malta, retired people are also happier with their lives than their younger compatriots.

Grandchild duties

Less than a third of 65- to 74-year-olds in Switzerland feel lonely at least sometimes. Around 60% of 65-80 year-olds have grandchildren, and almost two-thirds of grandparents look after them at least once a month.

A large number of those surveyed spend time each day reading (77%), watching television (76%) or doing housework (59%). Women (74%) are much more likely than men (42%) to do the latter.

In addition, almost a third of senior citizens (30%) use social networks such as Instagram or Facebook every day, but even more do not (39%).

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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