MOSCOW, December 8. /TASS/. Three fourths of Russians (76%) feel happy and 17% feel unhappy, the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) said on Monday.

There are more happy people among the youth (88% from 18 to 24 years) and those who studied at higher education institutions (86%) than among pensioners (64%) and poorly educated (61%).

Less than half of respondents said most of the people around them felt happy. 15% of respondents said their acquaintances and relatives felt unhappy.

40% of respondents said the family and relatives gave them joy. 14% of people said they felt happy because their relatives and they themselves were healthy. “I have all required for happiness,” respondents (12%) said.

11% of respondents link their prosperity with good job, 4% link it with high salaries and 4% with housing, the VTsIOM said.

3% of respondents said they were happy to live in peacetime. Stability is extremely important for 2% of respondents. Some people feel happy because they are young (1%), optimistic (1%) and have faithful friends (1%).

17% of respondents link unhappiness to poverty. Diseases and bad health sadden 9% of respondents. People feel unhappy because of personal problems (5%), family problems (3%) or solitude (3%).

The sense of insecurity prevents 2% of respondents from being happy. People say they cannot be happy due to the absence of work (1%) and own housing (1%).

The survey was conducted among 1,600 people in 46 Russian regions on November 15-16. The margin of error was about 3.5%.