Nearly eight in ten French people say they are happy, according to the Territories Barometer published Tuesday, November 16. A study carried out by the research firm Elabe and the Institut Montaigne in partnership with SNCF and franceinfo*. 78% of them say they are happy and 57% of French people see their personal future with optimism. These figures are respectively up five and ten points compared to 2018.
According to this survey, after the health crisis, two-thirds of French people describe their place of life as a place in which to live. They are 8% to have moved after the pandemic and 19% wish to do so in the future.
However, many reasons for dissatisfaction and concern remain, in particular on the quality of the social link, insecurity, access to public services and places of culture and leisure. 36% of French people have to restrict themselves to make ends meet, and among these, only 43% feel they have chosen their life.
The feeling of living in an unfair society, if it remains clearly dominant (68%) is however down ten points compared to the peak of anger of the yellow vests crisis. If pessimism about the future of French society remains in the majority (60%), it is also down by ten points.
Regarding the democratic health of the country, the study points out that for seven out of ten French people, it is no longer possible to debate calmly in France, in particular on divisive subjects such as the question of vaccination, street harassment or alcoholic driving. Among the values most appreciated by the French comes first respect (score of 8.8 / 10), ahead of honesty (8.6 / 10), justice (8.5 / 10), and safety (8 , 5/10).
Finally, six in ten French people believe that our economic model is not compatible with the issues raised by the ecological challenge. Three quarters of French people even consider that we are obliged to change our lifestyles.
* This survey was carried out on the internet between September 10 and October 7, 2021 with a sample of 10,054 people, representative of the French population, residents of each metropolitan administrative region aged 18 and over. The margin of error is between 0.3 and 1 point.