The number of Welsh people that reported happiness and wellbeing appears to have risen between 2013 and 2018. However, these rates are often lower than the rates in the other three UK nations.
A new, interactive profile looks at mental wellbeing in Wales. The adult data presents indicators on life worthwhile, life satisfaction, sense of happiness and sense of anxiety with the ability to make comparisons across UK nations. The indicators can compare wellbeing in the most and least deprived areas of Wales. In addition it features demographic and socio-economic characteristic breakdowns for Wales.
The adult data also includes Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) average scores presented for adults with demographic breakdowns. Data is also presented for WEMWBS with breakdowns for good, average and low mental wellbeing categories. Indicators include community safety, volunteering and feeling that people can be trusted.
The child personal wellbeing data presents a shortened version of the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scale (SWEMWBS) for secondary-school aged children. This is followed by data on not feeling lonely during the summer holidays. Further indicators for children include life satisfaction, school pressure and emotional support from family and at school with breakdowns available by sex, age and family affluence.
Some of the profile’s key findings are:
James Adamson, Specialty Registrar in Public Health said:
“Public Health Wales is pleased to see that there has been an increase in people reporting high life satisfaction and happiness in Wales between 2013 and 2018. However, there are still some groups and locations in Wales where these are lower than the other three UK nations.
“Those who are employed, those who own their own home and those who are married or in a civil partnership reported high levels of wellbeing. Adult males were more likely to report experiencing low levels of anxiety than adult females and there is a clear association with high family affluence and higher mental wellbeing in children. These children were also more likely not to feel lonely during the summer and reported a high life satisfaction and family emotional support.
“The Public Health Wales Observatory tool allows the data to be accessed quickly and intuitively and can be filtered by many categories such as Health board, Local Authority, age and sex. This will help Public Health Wales track and compare wellbeing and design interventions appropriately. In 2020, Public Health Wales will launch its new mental wellbeing programme, Hapus, aimed at helping everyone in Wales focus on and do more of the activities they know help them feel good.”