Half a million British population estimated to suffer poorest levels of well-being

Over half a million people in Britain, representing 1 percent of the British population, were estimated to suffer the poorest levels of personal well-being, analysis from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in Britain revealed Wednesday.

The ONS used the three-year dataset covering the period from January 2014 to December 2016 from the Annual Population Survey, Britain's largest household survey which estimates personal well-being through four measures: life satisfaction, feeling that the things they do in life are worthwhile, happiness and anxiety, to analyze the characteristics and circumstances of people who reported poorest personal well-being.

Three groups of people were identified as being at particular risk of having the poorest personal well-being, said the ONS. These included unemployed or inactive people in rented homes with self-reported health problems or disabilities, people with jobs in rented homes with self-reported health problems or disabilities and retired home owners with self-reported health problems or disabilities.

The ONS also identified other individual factors that are associated with the lowest levels of personal well-being, including being economically inactive with long-term illness or disability, being middle-aged, being single, separated, widowed or divorced, renting their home and having no or basic education.

"Improving how people feel about their lives is important for the health of our society in so many ways, not least the social and economic implications. Today's findings will help target services to support those in most need," Silvia Manclossi, head of Quality of Life Team of the ONS, said.