Ukrainians poor and... happy

Three-thirds of Ukraine’s population live in poverty, only one-third may boast of strong health, despite this 52 percent of the population consider themselves happy. Such are the results of the polls held by Kyiv International Institute of Sociology and Horshenin’s Institute of Management, Interfax-Ukraine reports. “The poll data attest that more than 70 percent of Ukrainian citizens may be regarded as poor,” the head of the Sociological Researches Department of Horshenin’s Institute Volodymyr Popovych, when presenting the results of the sociological survey. In particular, 23.3 percent of the respondents admit that they “hardly make ends meet,” 38.1 percent state that their money is enough only for food. In general, it is enough for living, but not enough for costly things (furniture, refrigerator) for 33.5 percent of the surveyed. Only 5.1 percent of the country’s population does not suffer any financial difficulties. “But, despite the number of optimists is increasing with every year in Ukraine,” the director of Horshenin’s Institute Kost Bondarenko states, who presents the survey results as well. In particular, every tenth Ukrainian expects considerable changes in the country, every third counts on some positive changes. Approximately 25 percent of the respondents are sure that life has grown worse in Ukraine. However, the financial conditions do not prevent Ukrainians from enjoying life - the results of the survey, held by KMIS, attest to this. The executive director of the institute natalia Zakharchenko explained that 52 percent of the population surveyed consider themselves happy. Herewith, men regard themselves happy more often than women. N.Zakharchenko names age factor (young people more often feel happy,) education (the higher the educational level, the happier the person), being employed (people, who work, feel happier) among the most influential factors on person’s realization himself as a happy one. The feeling of happiness is also influenced by financial welfare, however this factor is not of major significance, the executive director said. But such sides of life as family, intimate life and health influence the feeling of happiness most of all. According to N.Zakharchenko, the number of happy people in Ukraine has grown in last few years. So, only 38 percent of the respondents regarded themselves happy in 2001. “The general tendency is comforting, but the rate of increase is rather distressing... we are in the end of the list so far,” she said, emphasizing that the world comparative researches prove that Ukraine, as well as rest of the former USSR countries, belongs to those countries, where the population is least happy in comparison to the population of Latin America and Western Europe. The situation with health is worse in Ukraine. The deputy director of KMIS Viktoria Zakhozha said that, according to the poll results, 31 percent of the respondents consider themselves relatively healthy. “A considerable part of those regarding themselves healthy, feel happy,” V.Zakhozha remarked. Among the factors connected with health self-estimation, sex (men tend to overestimate their health state), age (only 7 percent of the surveyed aged people said that they were relatively healthy), and also the education level and the level of financial welfare (the higher the levels, the more often the person feels happy) are named.