Sense of happiness according to the KINCS Wellbeing Barometer
20 March is the International Day of Happiness, which draws attention to the fact that the development of modern societies should be assessed not only in terms of their economic development, but also in terms of their quality of life and physical and mental well-being. For four years, the Mária Kopp Institute for Demography and Families (KINCS) has been continuously monitoring the well-being of Hungarians, one of the most important indicators of which is happiness. According to the results of the KINCS Wellbeing Barometer, those in Hungary who have young children feel happiest, while marriage and a stable relationship are key factors in increasing happiness levels.
According to the results of the KINCS Wellbeing Barometer, Hungarian people rated their own happiness to be 7.4 on average on a scale from 1 to 10, over the four years between 2021 and 2024, which score was mostly determined by their age and marital status.
According to the 2024 survey, Hungarians' average happiness score was 7.3 (7.2 for men and 7.3 for women). This year marks the first time that women’s happiness index was higher than that of men. As in every year, young people felt the happiest also in 2024. Young people aged 18-29 (7.6) and those aged 30-49 (7.5) had the highest happiness scores. The happiness index for those aged 50-65 was 7.1, while for those aged 65+ it was 6.9, which indicates that the level of happiness gradually decreases with age.
Marital status also plays a significant role in the development of happiness levels: married people were the happiest (7.7), followed only slightly behind by cohabiting couples (7.6), while divorced people rated their own happiness at 6.6, single people at 6.7 and widows at 6.4.
Raising children continues to have a positive impact on happiness: according to the KINCS survey, parents with a child under 18 rated their happiness at 7.7 compared to the national average of 7.4. The happiness level of parents caring for young children stands out in particular, with those on parental leave scoring the happiest at 8.1, but high happiness levels are also found among large families (7.4), which shows that the presence of children in the family is a real source of happiness.
