Well-being - Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2024

One in three persons aged 65 and over report high overall life satisfaction

Analysis of overall life satisfaction by age shows that in 2024, almost one in three (32.3%) respondents aged 65 and older reported high satisfaction with their overall life.

The rate for ‘Not stated’ (where respondents refused or were unable to rate their overall life satisfaction on the 0-10 scale) was much higher with respondents aged 16 to 24 years when compared with other age groups. For example, the ‘Not stated’ rate for respondents aged 65 or older was 0.6%. The comparable rate for respondents aged 16 to 24 years was ten times higher (6.3%). This should be kept in mind when comparing overall life satisfaction by age group. See figure 4.1 and PxStat table WBB12.

Higher satisfaction levels with household finances for over 65s

When it comes to overall satisfaction with the financial situation of their households, older respondents had higher rates of high satisfaction when compared with other age groups. More than one in four (27.5%) respondents aged 65 or over reported a high overall satisfaction with the financial situation of their household. This was more than ten percentage points higher than for respondents aged 50 to 64 years (16.6%) and for respondents aged 25 to 49 years (14.2%). As with the question on overall life satisfaction, the 16-24 age group had the highest ‘Not stated’ rate and therefore caution should be advised when comparing their low, medium and high satisfaction levels with other age groups. See figure 4.2 and PxStat table WBB12.

 

Decrease in loneliness across all age groups since 2021

Results from the Social Impact of Covid-19 survey February 2021 show that older people reported higher compliance rates with government advice and guidelines regarding COVID-19 during the period that restrictions were in place. Even though these guidelines were more restrictive for older people, results from the SILC 2021 survey shows no statistically significant differences between age groups in the percentages reporting loneliness in the four-week period before their interview date, with just over one in five of people in each age group having felt lonely.  See figure 4.3.

Results from the 2024 survey show that for all age groups there has been a drop in the percentage of respondents reporting feeling lonely at least sometimes in the four-week period before their interview when compared with percentages in 2021. The largest drop in the loneliness rate between 2021 and 2024 was for people aged 50-64, where the rate fell by almost 10 percentage points from 22.1% in 2021 to 12.8% in 2024.  

The percentage of respondents aged 16 to 24 years reporting loneliness increased from 12.4% in 2023 to 15.6% in 2024. There was also an increase in the loneliness rate for respondents aged 65 and older, increasing from 13.1% in 2023 to 15.4% in 2024. See figure 4.3 and PxStat table WBB22.

In 2021, the 65 and older age group had the lowest rate for feeling downhearted or depressed in the four-week period prior to interview and respondents aged 16-24 had the highest rate (18.0% and 24.3% respectively). In 2023 when compared with 2021, the rates for feeling downhearted or depressed fell for all age groups with the largest decrease seen for those aged 16-24, where the rate fell from 24.3% to 13.7%.

Respondents aged 16 to 24 years and those aged 65 and older reported higher levels of loneliness in 2024 when compared with reported levels in 2023. These age groups also reported higher levels of feeling downhearted or depressed in 2024. The percentage of respondents aged 16 to 24 years who reported feeling downhearted or depressed increased by just over six percentage points from 13.7% in 2023 to 19.8% in 2024. The  rate for respondents aged 65 and older increased by almost three percentage points from 10.8% in 2023 to 13.6% in 2024. See figure 4.4 and PxStat table WBB22.