Health Fact Sheets
Life satisfaction, 2015
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In 2015, 93.2% of Canadians aged 12 and older, or roughly 27.3 million people, reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with life.Note 1 Overall there was no difference in life satisfaction between the sexes.
Life satisfaction is a personal subjective assessment of global well-being. In the Canadian Community Health Survey, respondents are asked to rate their life satisfaction on an 11-point scale (0–10), where zero represents “very dissatisfied” and ten represents “very satisfied”.
Males and females aged 12 to 17 were the most likely to report being satisfied or very satisfied with life (97.8% of males and 97.6% of females).Note 2 Although more than 9 out of 10 people report a high level of satisfaction, this proportion decreases with age. For males, life satisfaction decreased between each age group from age 12 to 64 and for females, satisfaction decreased across all age groups (Chart 1).
Data table for Chart 1
Age group (years) | Percent | Confidence Interval | |
---|---|---|---|
Lower 95% | Upper 95% | ||
Males | |||
Total (12 or older) | 93.4 | 92.9 | 93.9 |
12 to 17 | 97.8 | 96.9 | 98.8 |
18 to 34 | 96.1 | 95.3 | 96.9 |
35 to 49 | 93.9 | 92.8 | 94.9 |
50 to 64 | 90.9 | 89.7 | 92.1 |
65 or older | 89.7 | 88.5 | 91.0 |
Females | |||
Total (12 or older) | 93.0 | 92.5 | 93.5 |
12 to 17 | 97.6 | 96.5 | 98.6 |
18 to 34 | 95.6 | 94.7 | 96.5 |
35 to 49 | 93.0 | 91.9 | 94.1 |
50 to 64 | 91.2 | 90.2 | 92.3 |
65 or older | 89.7 | 88.6 | 90.8 |
Note: Population aged 12 and older who reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their life in general. Source: Canadian Community Health Survey, 2015. |
The proportion of residents who reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their life was lower than the national average (93.2%) in:
- Newfoundland and Labrador (90.8%)
- New Brunswick (90.0%)
The proportion of residents who reported being satisfied or very satisfied was the same as the national average in the other provinces.
Since older respondents tend to have lower levels of life satisfaction, provinces and territories with disproportionately 'older' populations are expected to have reported lower life satisfaction than the national average.
Overall, life satisfaction is high for Canadians although differences occur when breaking it down by main activity. Canadians who are attached to the labour market whether working at a paid job or business, or on maternity/paternity leave were among the most likely to report being satisfied or very satisfied with life. A higher rate was also seen among those on vacation from work or going to school. Canadians engaged in other activities whether retired, caring for children or doing housework were less likely to report being satisfied or very satisfied. The lowest rates of life satisfaction were seen among those who were suffering from a long term illness or providing care for someone other than children (Chart 2).
Data table for Chart 2
Main Activity | Percent | Confidence Interval | |
---|---|---|---|
Lower 95% | Upper 95% | ||
Long term illness | 59.1 | 54.3 | 63.8 |
Care-giving other than for children | 68.4 | 53.1 | 83.7 |
Other | 81.9 | 78.7 | 85.0 |
Looking for paid work | 86.4 | 83.4 | 89.3 |
Household work | 87.9 | 85.1 | 90.6 |
Retired | 90.0 | 89.2 | 90.8 |
Caring for children | 93.3 | 91.6 | 95.1 |
Volunteering | 95.2 | 92.1 | 98.4 |
Working at a paid job or business | 95.7 | 95.2 | 96.1 |
Maternity/Paternity leave | 96.5 | 93.0 | 100.1 |
Going to school | 97.5 | 96.9 | 98.1 |
Vacation (from paid work) | 97.7 | 96.2 | 99.2 |
Note: Respondents are categorized by their main activity from the previous week. Main activity means the activity on which the respondent spends most of his/her time: work, job seeking, studies, childcare, etc. Source: Canadian Community Health Survey, 2015. |
References
Lu C., G. Schellenberg, F. Hou, and J.F. Helliwell. 2015. “How’s Life in the City? Life Satisfaction Across Census Metropolitan Areas and Economic Regions in Canada.” Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 11-626-X, no. 48. (Accessed January 17th, 2017)
Data
Additional data from the Canadian Community Health Survey are available from CANSIM table 105–0508.
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