People living in Caerphilly County Borough are the unhappiest in Wales, according to official figures.
As part of the Office for National Statistics’ annual population survey, residents were asked to rate their happiness from zero to ten – with ten being “completely happy”.
The mean average score for Caerphilly County Borough was 7.05 out of ten – the worst in Wales. The second unhappiest place in Wale was Newport with an average rating of 7.1 out of ten.
The percentage of people rating their happiness between zero and four in Caerphilly was 14.73%. However 29.81% rated their happiness at between nine and ten out of ten.
Responding to the figures, Caerphilly Council leader Harry Andrews said: “We’re naturally disappointed that the people of Caerphilly have rated their happiness at a low level. Caerphilly County Borough is a fantastic place to live and work, with magnificent countryside and amenities.
“Of course, the Westminster Tory-led government’s austerity measures, including cuts to public services and social security benefits, and the impact of the Bedroom Tax, are hitting our people hard.
“But in these tough times, I’m proud that our Labour-led Council is protecting valued services.”
He added: “The economy may be in poor shape, and Tories’ cuts will bite deeper yet. But our Council is determined to deliver the best possible services to the hard-pressed people of Caerphilly County Borough.”
Is Caerphilly County Borough really the unhappiest place in Wales? We don’t think so, but we’d love to hear your thoughts. Please leave your comments below.
A wise man once said "happiness is the interval between periods of unhappiness." In other words it is not realistic to expect to be happy every day. Perhaps the survey caught the people of this borough on a bad day?
Johann Goethe, the German philosopher, wrote,
"Happy is the man who learns early the wide chasm that lies between his wishes and his powers."
This is good advice, the genuine unhappy people worry constantly about things they cannot change. The contented enjoy life for its own sake and consequently do not suffer from continual unhappiness.
Harry Andrews should differentiate between ` unhappiness` and ` discontent`. I agree with him if people were asked if they liked living in Caerphilly, but were unhappy, enjoying all that the area offers, good schools, fairly good transport links, good variety of shops etc, well served with medical facilities etc etc, but that was not the basis of the question, so Harry and the Council have nothing to answer for as a result of this survey, however, if the question had been ` are you content`? the answer may still have been no, in which case Harry and his colleagues would need to take a serious look at it.
I happen to think that the result of the survey means that people ARE discontent.
Richard makes the point that everyone suffers periods of unhappiness, these can have many causes, and everyone suffers from them, but this survey should have made a distinction between, ( unhappiness (sadness) and discontent, for instance I am not `unhappy` because I am discontent with this or that, in fact, I often take strength from issues with which I am discontent, and try to alter them.
While Richard Williams impresses me with his erudition and education, like Harry Andrews, he does not tackle the cause of unhappiness in the borough. I am unhappy because despite, the good points of Caerphilly, like scenery,I am unhappy at the poor quality of local government, where the councillors think that seniors officers can set their own salary levels, but as council tax payers, we dont get value for money. I am unhappy at the abscence of good government, where the councillors and officers are out of touch with the general public, and we live in a corporate state, look it up in a refernece book, where the socialist principles, or even social democratic principles, my grandparents and parents struggled for are abandoned by the jobs worths of neo liberal New Labour party. What we need in Caerphilly is hope and we havent got any.
PS The major problem in Caerphilly Borough is poverty, being rich, or even "comfortable" doesnt make one happy, but it helps. Nothing has been done to solve the problem caused by the loss of the coal industry, and where jobs exist, they are at or just above the minimum wage. Contrast this with the old boy, nepotism in the Council where the sky is the limit. I know I go on about Council Officers` salaries, but we have just ahd Ludlow St resurfaced, and they,despite their high salaries forgot to renistate the white lins at the junction of Clive St and Ludlow St, we`ve had one crash already, and there are near misses almost hourly, no doubt the relevant officer are counting their salaries.