People Are Happier In Their Late 60s, Research Shows

A longest-running research found that feelings of wellbeing rise as people approach the age of 70. The study, conducted by the Medical Research Council (MRC), has monitored the health and wellbeing progress of 1700 people since their birth.

In a report of BBC News, the study, which was launched in March 1946, tracked the participants' progress by asking them to rate how confident, cheerful, relaxed and useful they felt in their early 60s. They were again asked the same questions when they reached the age of 69.

The researchers compared the responses of the participants in their early and late 60s, and they found that there was an overall average improvement in all aspects of wellbeing as they move towards the end of their sixth decade. This was despite the fact that most of the participants were suffering at least one chronic disease including arthritis, high blood pressure and diabetes.

"What we've found is that, on average, levels of wellbeing increased during people's sixties," said Dr. Mai Stafford, program leader at the MRC Unit for Lifelong Health and Ageing at University College London. She, however, added that it was not yet clear why the participants felt happier in their late 60s.

"We found that one in five experienced a substantial increase in wellbeing in later life, although we also found a smaller group who experienced a substantial decline," Stafford stated. "We hope this will allow us to pinpoint which common experiences may be linked to an improvement in wellbeing in later life."

According to The Guardian, the latest findings mirror the results of the research by the Office for National Statistics released early last Month. The study found that people who are in middle age are the least happy, with the highest levels of anxiety and lowest levels of life satisfaction. Moreover, they also discovered that people aged 65-79 had the highest average levels of personal wellbeing.