The revenge of the provincial metropolises? According to an INSEE study published on Wednesday February 9, the French people most satisfied with their lives live in large cities, with the notable exception of the Paris region. DOther factors are associated with higher satisfaction, such as the fact of being in good health, young, in a couple, executive, rich, in employment Where French.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the National Institute of Statistics asked 47,000 French people to rate their life in general and in certain specific areas from 0 to 10. The average score for life in general stands at 7.3, a figure almost identical to 2010 and which has changed very little since 2015.
All other things being equal, the least happy inhabitants are Ile-de-France residents, with a result of between 7.21 and 7.24. The most satisfied inhabitants, on the contrary, are those of large urban areas with more than 200,000 inhabitants in the rest of the country, with a score of 7.35. Urban or rural territories with less than 50,000 inhabitants also show above-average results.
This study, which is based on figures from 2019, highlights that satisfaction decreases with age, with the exception of a rebound around the age of 60. Executives are the happiest socio-professional category, followed by intermediate professions, employees, workers, craftsmen and farmers.
By family situation, couples, with and without children, are the happiest, far ahead of single people and single-parent families. Men and women are equally satisfied with their life and their housing, but men are on average more satisfied with their leisure and their work and women more satisfied with their family and friends.