The inaugural Sainsbury’s Living Well Index, based on a nationally representative study into how Britons feel about their quality of life, reveals the factors associated with living well – and uncovers significant gaps. Sleep quality has the strongest association with Britons’ quality of life – for the typical Brit, improving their sleep to the level of those who are living best would be equivalent to them having more than four times as much disposable income. In the West Midlands, one-in-three (34 per cent) say they feel well-rested just some of the time. Only one-in-four (25 per cent) in the West Midlands say they regularly feel well-rested.
The Index, created by Sainsbury’s in partnership with leading researchers Oxford Economics and the National Centre for Social research, aims to define, measure and track what it really means to live well in the UK today. It has been commissioned to help the retailer understand and engage on the aspects of everyday life that are holding people back.
In the first study of its kind, researchers asked a nationally representative panel of 8,250 people questions covering 60 different aspects of their behaviour, how they live and how they feel. The Index covers everything from their support networks and relationships with friends, families and communities, to how people feel about their jobs, their quality of sleep and the strength of their finances. The same panel will be questioned every six months, enabling Sainsbury’s and researchers to track the effects of how we live on how we feel, individually and as a nation, as well as providing unique insights into the lives of Britons today.
The average Briton has a Living Well score of 62.2 out of a maximum of 100. Those in the West Midlands had a score of 62.1 the study found – below the typical national score.
Those living best are defined as the 20 per cent of the population with the highest scores – falling between 72 and 92. By comparing the lifestyles and behaviours of those living best in Britain with the typical Briton, the Sainsbury’s Living Well Index has revealed the critical factors behind living well.
Income has surprisingly little impact on how we feel. For the typical Brit, a 50 per cent rise in disposable income contributes to just a 0.5 point increase in their Living Well score.
In contrast, controlling for age, income, or personal health, a good night’s sleep has the strongest association with how well we feel we are living. Over time, the research aims to understand the big gaps dividing the nation, and whether associations are causal.
Ian Mulheirn, Director of Consulting at Oxford Economics, said: “Wellbeing is rising up the agenda at a time of rapid change in how we live our lives, and we’ve created a critical new tool that can help us to unpick what’s driving our sense of living well, drawing on a unique, rolling survey of unprecedented breadth and granularity. The analysis within the Sainsbury’s Living Well Index reveals that, in a world that’s never been more connected, the richness of our relationships and support networks remains among the biggest determinants of how well we live – and represents an area of our lives in which we can act.”
