DOHA: A survey conducted by the national statistics agency to mark the International Day of Happiness today suggests that one’s level of happiness in Qatar depends largely on how much educated one is.
While only 59.9 percent of the illiterate men who were interviewed said they were happy here, the percentage was much higher (81.7) in the case of those who were educated.
The same was true of women, as 69.4 percent of those interviewed who had had schooling up to the primary level said they were happy, the percentage was 80 as for women with higher educational qualifications.
The Qatar Statistics Authority (QSA) released the findings of the survey on the eve of the International Happiness Day yesterday.
The QSA, however, didn’t say how many people were surveyed and what the ratio was of nationals and expatriates who comprised the sample.
Qatari families are happier than their non-Qatari counterparts, the survey reflected giving no percentages.
In Qatari families, male members (90.4 percent) were happier than the females whose percentage was marginally lower at 88.8.
But, generally speaking, more employed women (79.2 percent) said they were happy with their earnings than their male counterparts as their percentage was slightly lower (78.9).
Overall, more women than men — both, citizens and expatriates — said they were happy. In Qatari families, the percentage of women who said they were happy was 85.1 as compared with 82.2 percent of men.
Similar was the case with non-Qatari families as 83.2 percent women said they were happy as against 78.3 percent men.
Overall, the level of happiness among younger women (those aged between 15 and 24 years) was the highest as a vast majority of those interviewed (90 percent) said they were highly satisfied with their lives.
The Peninsula
