Australian Unity Wellbeing Index Survey #3, Report 3.2: The impact of personal relationships and household structure on the wellbeing of Australians

Australians are most likely to be very satisfied with their lives if they are elderly, married, living with their spouse and no children, well-off and female. They are least likely to very satisfied with life if they are young, separated, living alone, poor and male.

These are some of the findings of the third survey for the Australian Unity Wellbeing Index, based on telephone interviews with more than 2,000 adult Australians in March 2002. The Index consists of two values: the Personal Wellbeing Index, which is the average level of satisfaction with seven aspects (or domains) of people’s personal lives, including personal relationships; and the National Wellbeing Index, the average level of satisfaction with six aspects of national life. The values are expressed as a percentage of the maximum possible score, so representing varying degrees of satisfaction.

The third survey included three specific personal wellbeing items on relationships with spouse or partner, family, and friends and two national wellbeing items on support for families by government and business. It also included, for the first time, details on people’s marital status and household structures. This report focuses on these relationship issues. The topline trends in the Index, discussed in report 3.1 released in May, showed increases in both personal and national wellbeing over the past year, possibly due to a ‘September 11 effect’.

People’s personal relationships are one of the most important influences on their satisfaction with life in general. Australians’ satisfaction with their relationships is generally high, rating above satisfaction with other aspects of their lives. There are, however, significant differences between groups, some very large. Generally speaking, satisfaction with personal relationships increases with age and with income. Not surprisingly, relationship satisfaction is higher among those who are married or ‘living together’ (co-habiting) than for those who are separated, divorced or have never married; more surprisingly, the widowed also score high.