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Happiest Brits in remote Scottish islands

LONDON, July 25 (UPI) -- The new British "happiness index" rates residents of remote Scottish islands as the happiest, the Office of National Statistics reported Tuesday.

Those living in the Shetlands, Orkneys and Western Isles averaged 8.1 on a 10-point scale, The Daily Express reported. The overall average for Scotland was 7.48, slightly above the British average of 7.41.

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But living north of the border appears to be no guarantee of contentment. North Ayrshire had the second-highest percentage of unhappy people, trailing Thurrock in Essex, a suburb just east of London on the River Thames.

The survey for Prime Minister David Cameron's "Measuring National Well-Being" program is controversial. Critics say the government, at a time of austerity, should not be spending millions of pounds on a new survey.

Glenn Everett, program director for the ONS, said getting information on how people feel about their lives can be important, the Shetland News reported.

"Understanding people's views of well-being is an important addition to existing official statistics and has potential uses in the policy making process and to aid other decision making," he said.

The survey found teenagers and those in their late 60s are happier than the middle-aged, women tend to be more content than men, and homeowners are happier than renters, The Sun reported.

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