Moscow, November 10 (Interfax) - The number of happy people in Russia has increased over the past six months, but this number is still lower than it was last year, a nationwide public opinion poll shows.
The poll was conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research center (VTsIOM) in 42 regions, territories and republics of Russia in September.
Almost three-fourths of the respondents (72%) said they consider themselves happy, and the number of such people increased by 3% over the past six months, the poll shows.
The highest percentage of happy Russians was registered in March 2007 (77%) and the lowest in 1992 (42%).
The percentage of those respondents who said they are happy is the highest in Moscow and St. Petersburg (80%), and the percentage of those who report being unhappy is the highest among residents of large and small cities (25%).
The younger the respondents are, the more they are inclined to consider themselves happy (62% of elderly respondents and 84% of the respondents aged 18-24 said they consider themselves happy). On the contrary, the older the respondents are, the more they are inclined to feel unhappy (12% of the respondents aged 18-24 said they are unhappy, against 29% of the respondents aged over 60).
The level of happiness among highly educated respondents is higher than that among people with less education (80% and 62%, respectively). Differences are also observed in groups with different financial situations. The higher the respondents estimate their own financial situation, they happier they tend to feel (52% of the low-income respondents and 91% of the high-income respondents said they consider themselves happy).
The poll did not reveal any differences in the level of happiness among men and women (72% of the men surveyed and 72% of the women surveyed said they consider themselves happy).
