S'poreans' top worries: All about $ Tue, Oct 25, 2011 | my paper

By Sophie Hong

 

AS THE age-old adage goes, money is the root of all evil. But money - or the lack of it - is also the root of all unhappiness among Singaporeans.

The top three causes for unhappiness here: Insufficient personal savings, growing

expenditure in the last six months and the current state of the economy. In addition, the most unhappy group of citizens are young adults aged between 18 and 29 years old.

These are the findings of The Happiness Report, a study on the happiness quotient of Singaporeans released yesterday by integrated marketing-communications agency Grey Group Singapore. The study was conducted in June on 200 Singaporean respondents of all races aged 18 and above.

Happiness was also hotly debated in last week's parliamentary sessions, after Aljunied GRC MP Sylvia Lim suggested that Singapore use an index of happiness and well-being to gauge the country's growth instead of relying on just gross domestic product.

In a separate study on the effect of material success on perceived quality of life, Dr Christie Scollon, associate professor of psychology, noted that material wealth is an important part of Singaporeans' conception of "the good life".

"There is a shared consensus that material wealth equates to the good life," said Prof Scollon, who teaches at the Singapore Management University's School of Social Sciences.

"Think of the 5Cs and how everybody knows what they are," she added.

Rising inflation may have also played a part in making Singaporeans unhappy.

The latest figures released by the Department of Statistics yesterday showed a 5.5 per cent increase in the consumer price index last month, compared to that one year ago, due to higher costs for housing, transport and food.

The Happiness Report also noted that a higher percentage of working women are unhappy as compared to their male colleagues.

Grey Group Singapore chief executive Subbaraju Alluri called this "the most revealing finding of the study".

He said that, with 57 per cent of women here in the work force, this points to the fact that a large number of them are juggling their roles and responsibilities at work and in their families.

"Roles for women in Singapore have become more stressful than ever before. The other potential reason could be the corporate glass ceiling that some women face, with the long hours they put in not being reflected in their career progression," said Mr Alluri.

Added Prof Scollon: "They may have so many roles and obligations to fulfil that they often feel guilty while doing one thing, because it means not being able to do something else.

"In short, the modern woman is overly burdened."

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