Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A majority of Americans are satisfied with their personal lives, a Gallup poll released Tuesday indicates.
The survey found 86 percent of Americans said they were satisfied with the way things are currently going in their personal lives and 56 percent of people said they were "very satisfied" when asked to clarify their level of satisfaction.
Gallup said the overall number of people satisfied with their personal lives was consistent with recent highs above 85 percent from polls throughout the past five years as well as general historic trends.
"The vast majority of Americans have been content with the direction of their lives over the 40 years Gallup has tracked this measure, with satisfaction dipping only as low as 73 percent in July 1979 during the energy crisis," Gallup said.
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The poll found that young people experienced the largest change in "very satisfied" ratings in a major subgroup since 2017, as the number of people aged 18-29 fell to 40 percent, a 17 percent decline from the previous year.
Conversely, senior citizens were more satisfied with their lives than they have been in years, climbing to 68 percent after reaching a low of 46 percent in 2011.
Satisfaction among racial groups has diverged since 2017, with 61 percent of white people stating they are very satisfied with their personal lives, while the number of non-white people who are very satisfied with their lives has declined 9 points to 47 percent.
Political affiliation also had an effect on how satisfied people were with their lives, as 90 percent of Republicans and 87 percent of Democrats said they were satisfied, while 70 percent of Republicans and half of Democrats said they were very satisfied.
The survey was conducted between Jan. 2 and Jan. 10 based on telephone interviews with a random sample of 1,017 adults in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. It was conducted with a 4 percent margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level.
