9 in 10 Brit happy despite credit crunch, claims survey

London, Nov 8 : Britons surely know how to remain happy during troubled times, for a new survey has revealed that nine out of ten people are positive despite rising unemployment and the threat from the worst recession.

The report by the National Social Marketing Centre and University College London says "in general, Britain is a happy nation."

Nearly 70 per cent of those questioned expect more positive than negative experiences.

The survey involving 1,994 people showed that high earners, with a salary above 30,000 pounds a year - were the happiest with an 80 per cent rate of optimism.

Middle income group earning between 17,500 pounds to 29,999 pounds - had a 69 per cent rate of happiness and those on less than 17,500 pounds had a 66 per cent rate of optimisms

The report says: "The fieldwork was completed before the intensification of the banking crisis in September and October 2008."

"The differences were quite a stark finding. They show how people's position in society, by income, education or social class, does have a massive impact on how they are feeling about things like health and so on," the Telegraph quoted Alex Christopoulos, author of the report, as saying.

He said: "These sorts of surveys tend to stay fairly stable... but in August [the economic outlook] was less bad than it is now. In a sense you need to have optimism for your mental health."

"If you get too pessimistic about the credit crunch it is bad. If we are on the cusp of a recession, it's difficult for people to say whether it's going to go on for a long time," he added.

ANI