The conventional life

What will make our future leaders happy in the next ten years? Perhaps reassuringly some things never change. At the top of the list are an interesting job, spending time with family and friends and owning a home. A strong majority of respondents want a job that contributes to society, and 41% say being in a long term
relationship is very important. Just under a third also want some recognition – to be seen as successful.

The travel bug

Happiness for some is still about moving around. More than a quarter of our respondents think owning a car is going to be very important to their future happiness. Overseas travel is particularly important to Europeans: 40% find this very important compared to 25% in the UK and 24% in Africa.

Wilderness experience

Older respondents want to get out more: 36% of respondents over 30 rate time spent in the natural environment as very important to their future happiness, compared to only 18% of under-19s.

The age of contentedness

Our respondents ranged in age from 14 to 74, but the majority lay between 18 and their mid-30s. The age categories show some differences. For example, the older you get, the more you want to commune with nature and have a job that contributes to society. Work-life balance rises in importance, as does spending time with family (rather than friends).

Older respondents are a lot less bothered about visiting exotic places before they disappear (perhaps they have already done so) and are more likely to want to grow their own food. And perhaps growing up is also about
accepting capitalism, or not seeing a viable alternative: the
over-30s are more likely to think economic growth is the most important issue for government.

'Nothing is more important than us saving this magnificent planet we live on.'Luke Brown, 18, Hull York Medical School