In 2025, 26.5% of respondents reported high levels of satisfaction with their overall life, similar to 26.4% of respondents in 2024.
The mean satisfaction score with the financial situation of the household was higher at 7.2 for owner-occupiers, than 5.9 for respondents in rented accommodation in 2025.
In 2025, one in five (20.0%) female respondents reported feeling downhearted or depressed at least sometime in the four-week period prior to their SILC interview compared with one in ten (11.1%) male respondents.
More than a third of respondents (36.5%) aged 65 years and over, reported high overall life satisfaction compared with a fifth (22.1%) of respondents aged 25 to 49 years in 2025.
Respondents who were unable to work due to long-standing health problems, had the lowest mean overall life satisfaction score, at 5.8, compared with retired respondents, at 8.0, in 2025.
Separated (34.1%), widowed (28.3%), or divorced (30.5%) respondents were three times more likely to report feeling lonely in the four weeks prior to interview, when compared with married respondents (9.4%).
Over four in ten (41.8%) respondents living in consistent poverty in 2025 reported feeling downhearted or depressed at least sometime in the four-week period before their interview date, compared with 14.6% of respondents who were not living in consistent poverty.
SILC is a household survey covering a broad range of topics relating to income and living conditions. It is the official source of data on household and individual income and provides key national poverty indicators, such as the at risk of poverty rate, the consistent poverty rate, and rates of enforced deprivation. Results published in today’s release relate to answers given directly by survey respondents aged 16 years and older. The data collection phase of the SILC survey occurs during the first seven months of the SILC reference year.
Learn about our data and confidentiality safeguards, and the steps we take to produce statistics that can be trusted by all.
Statistician's Comment
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (25 March 2026) published well-being results from the Survey on Income and Living Conditions (SILC) 2025.
Commenting on today’s release, Sarah Crilly, Statistician in the Social Cohesion and Sustainable Development Goals Division said: “SILC is a household survey covering a broad range of topics relating to income and living conditions. For SILC, respondents who were 16 years or older were asked to rate their satisfaction levels with various aspects of their lives, and how often they felt lonely, downhearted, or depressed in the four weeks prior to interview.
Overall life satisfaction and satisfaction with the financial situation of their household questions were asked using a scale from 0 (Not at all satisfied) to 10 (Completely satisfied). The mean score for each satisfaction level indicator is calculated by adding individual scores and dividing the total by the number of individuals. In this release, the responses for the satisfaction level indicators are also grouped as low (0-5), medium (6-8), and high (9-10).
See Editor’s Note below for further information on the survey.
Main Findings
In 2025, more than a quarter (26.5%) of respondents reported high levels of satisfaction with their overall life, similar to 26.4% of respondents in 2024. The percentage of respondents who reported high overall satisfaction with the financial situation of their household in 2025, at 17.7%, was a slight decrease on the 2024 rate of 18.2%.
Sex
Female respondents were slightly less likely to report high satisfaction with their overall life and with the financial situation of their households in 2025. Less than a fifth (18.6%) of male respondents reported high satisfaction with the financial situation of their households compared with 17.0% of female respondents.
Female respondents were more likely to report feeling downhearted or depressed. In 2025, 20.0% of female respondents reported feeling downhearted or depressed at least sometime in the four-week period prior to their SILC interview compared with 11.1% of male respondents. Female respondents were also more likely to report feeling lonely with 18.0% reporting that they felt lonely at least sometime in the four-week period prior to their SILC interview. The comparable rate for male respondents was 11.8%.
Age
Analysis of overall life satisfaction by age shows that in 2025, respondents aged 65 and older were more likely to report high satisfaction with their overall life. More than a third (36.5%) of this age group reported high overall life satisfaction, compared with one in five (22.1%) people aged 25 to 49 years. Older respondents were also more likely to report high overall satisfaction with the financial situation of their households at 28.5% compared with 13.1% of respondents aged 25 to 49 years.
At 18.4%, respondents aged 25 to 49 years had the highest rate of feeling downhearted or depressed at least sometime in the four-week period prior to their SILC interview in 2025. Respondents aged 65 and older had the lowest rate at 13.0%.
Economic Status
In 2025, respondents who described their Principal Economic Status (PES) as unable to work due to long-standing health problems, reported much lower mean overall life satisfaction scores, at 5.8, when compared with other groups. This compared with a score of 6.8 for unemployed respondents and 8.0 for retired respondents.
Almost half (45.2%) of respondents who were unable to work due to long-standing health problems, reported feeling downhearted or depressed, compared with 35.5% of those unemployed, 13.3% of students, 12.5% of those employed, and 12.1% of retired respondents.
Housing Status
Respondents living in owner-occupied accommodation were more likely to report a high mean satisfaction level with their overall lives, with a mean overall life satisfaction score of 7.8 compared with a score of 7.2 for respondents living in rented accommodation.
The mean overall satisfaction with the financial situation of their household of respondents living in owner-occupied accommodation was 7.2 compared with 5.9 for respondents living in rented accommodation.
Poverty Status
Analysis of overall life satisfaction levels and satisfaction with household finances by poverty status and enforced deprivation status shows that people at risk of poverty and people living in enforced deprivation have lower satisfaction levels.
The mean overall life satisfaction score of people who were at risk of poverty in 2025 was 7.3, compared with 7.7 of people who were not at risk of poverty. The mean score for overall satisfaction with the financial situation of their household was 4.3 for those in enforced deprivation, compared with 7.2 for those not in enforced deprivation.”