MOSCOW, April 29 (Itar-Tass) - Seventy seven percent of Russians believe they are happy. They associate it fist of all with well-being of the family.
The data were presented by the all-Russian Public Opinion Research Centre (VCIOM) on Monday.
According to the poll, most happy Russians are among Moscow residents (82 percent), the young aged 18-24 (87 percent) and highly educated people (84 percent). Most of the respondents who feel happy connect the state first of all with well-being in the family (29 percent). Important factors of happiness are children and grandchildren (18 percent), successful life on the whole (17 percent), a good job (10 percent) and good health of themselves and their relatives (six precent). Twenty percent of the polled people could not explain why they were happy.
According to the VCIOM survey, the rate of happy people practically has not changed as compared to last year (76 percent in April 2012). However, if to compare the rate with the early 1990s (44 percent in June 1990, 60 percent in May 1991, 42 percent in February 1992), it grew substantially.
Eighteen percent of the polled Russians said they were unhappy, explaing it mainly by poverty (19 percent). Among the causes were also illnesses, an old age (seven percent), the fact that there was no good job (four percent) and life problems (four percent). Fifty two percent of the respondent could not explain why they were unhappy.
The poll showed that most Russians believe they are surrounded mostly by happy people (42 percent). Fewer believe mostly unhappy people are around (18 percent). More than a third (36 percent) think they are surrounded equally by happy and unhappy people.
The poll was conducted among 1,600 respondents in 130 residential sites in 42 regions of Russia on April 20-21. The statistical error does not exceed 3.4 percent.
A member of the Public Chamber, Sergei Markov believes the index of happiness is an important social rate, particularly when many among the population are polled. It must be viewed not as a funny thing, but as an important rate. In recent time, serious politicians said that the value of social and cultural rates should be enhanced, he said.
The expert also believes that there is a need for a state programme to increase happiness. And it should not seem strange, as a level of democracy is not believed to be strange, Markov noted.
Among social and cultural rates may be for example the number of full families, how much time people spend on physical training, healthy way of life and others. Quantity of happiness is a concrete category that may have a concrete programme, the expert said.