People are at their happiest at retirement age and their most miserable in their geriatric years, according to a new University of Queensland study.
The ‘happiness wave’ report reveals how happiness changes over a lifetime for people living in Australia, Germany and Britain.
“We all strive towards happiness, but we wanted to find out at what point in life we actually reach this goal,” said report co-author, Dr Tony Beatton.
Collecting data from more than 60,000 people in Australia, Britain and Germany, the study found people were happiest as they entered retirement age (55-75), and most miserable close to death (80-90). For a representative 18-year-old with a happiness level of 7 on a 10-point scale, the peak happiness age was found to be 65 in Australia, reaching 7.3, compared with Britain (7.2 at aged 70), and Germany (7 at 65).
“Our interpretation of these findings is that individuals over 55 no longer have unrealistic expectations of what their life will be like and simply enjoy their reasonable health and wealth, leading to a marked surge in happiness,” said Dr Beatton. “As their health starts to deteriorate after 75, their happiness plunges.”
It found in Australia, happiness peaks at 7.3 by age 65 but then drops increasingly fast as death approaches, with happiness levels at 6.6 at the age of 90 and over.
In Britain, the figures were similar, with the happiness peak slightly later at age 70, and the peak itself not as high as for Australians, reaching only 7.2, then declining to 6.3 over the age of 90. “Life in old age is clearly relatively better in Australia than the UK, perchance because of the better weather, more generous public pensions, and more space for the grey nomads to roam,” said Dr Beatton.
In Germany, happiness peaks at 7 at age 65, preceded by a reduction in happiness during early adulthood. A sharp drop occurs after age 75. Over 90, happiness level drop to around 5.8. “Life appears to simply get worse and worse in Germany after the age of 18,” said Dr Beatton.
