Today we reveal the results of the biggest survey we have ever carried out into life in Greater Manchester.

We wanted to know answers to the burning questions - how you feel about your neighbourhood, how life is changing here, how good your local services are, how happy or lonely or wealthy you feel.

The results make fascinating reading, not only because it provides a snapshot of life in Greater Manchester in 2017, but because they show how it varies depending where in the region you live, how old you are, your gender and how you vote.

They also starkly highlight what issues matter most at the ballot box ahead of our first ever regional mayoral elections in May.

Here are some of our key findings, which we will report in more depth over the coming days.

Happiness

Here’s the good news: people in Greater Manchester seem to be a fairly happy bunch.

Notwithstanding other findings – below – that show specific problems in areas of our lives, the survey still found two thirds of people would rate their happiness at 7/10 or higher.

In fact 40pc of people would put it at 8/10 or above.

There was also a clear correlation between money and happiness, perhaps no surprise.

Trafford, on most measures the region’s wealthiest borough, appears to have the happiest people, giving an average of 7.1/10. Oldham, on many measures the poorest, has the lowest, at 6.4.

Nevertheless the connection between wealth and happiness tails off at £80,000, with people then getting less content the richer they get.

Alongside happiness, most respondents across Greater Manchester also said their quality of life had improved over the last five years.

Nevertheless a substantial proportion – one in four – said it had got worse and again that varies substantially by area.

In Bolton and Rochdale the figure was one in three, while in Bury it was less than one in five.

Loneliness

Despite those happiness ratings, the survey revealed another far more sobering reality: more than one in four of you are regularly lonely - and the younger you are, the more regularly you are likely to feel that way.

Even in - or perhaps because of - our ever-more connected world, 27pc of people across all age brackets said they ‘often’ experienced loneliness.

For under-18s the figure was more than one in three, at 35pc, with a further one in eight lonely ‘most of the time’.

For those aged 18-30 almost 32pc of people were often lonely, that figure tailing off in older age groups to just 19pc for the over-60s.

Manchester and Oldham appear to be the loneliest boroughs and Bury the least – with almost one in four people there, the highest figure in the region, ‘never’ feeling that way.

Similarly in Manchester, well over a quarter of people had never met their neighbours and felt 'isolated' where they live, much higher than elsewhere. In Rochdale that figure was just 14pc and in Bury closer to one in ten.

Percentage of people who often feel lonely

Experts point to three main reasons why the figure should be so high among younger people here.

The first is simply because there are so many people moving to Greater Manchester - which has a huge university population - to live as adults for the first time, away from their families and friendship networks.

But they also point to the substantial numbers of people who do not know their neighbours and do not feel connected to their local communities.



And rising levels of social media use have been suggested as a factor too - with people spending less time in face to face interactions and feeling pressured to live the idealised social lives portrayed on their feeds.

Loneliness is rising fast up the political agenda as a result, but academics such as Dr Zinnia Mitchell, lecture in social care at Manchester Metropolitan University, suggest action is urgently needed.

“It is of concern because of the risk of developing serious mental health issues,” she said.

“The fact so many young people feel like they don’t have someone to talk to about their problems is worrying.”

Mental health

Leading on from that, the shortcomings in our mental health services come through our survey results loud and clear.

Almost one in three people – 30pc – had either accessed mental health services themselves in the last three years or a relative of theirs had.

Of those who had, 60pc of them were not happy with the service they received.

We received hundreds of comments outlining the lack of support out there – ranging from too little help for students, people who had felt forced to go private because of long NHS waiting lists and uninterested GPs.

There was a particular gap in provision for people with anxiety, stress and depression – so severe that many of you are now going private or turning to charities for help.

Have your or a family member accessed mental health services in past three years? 30.86% Yes 69.14% No

Last year Manchester's mental health waiting lists were the longest in the country and that is borne out by your comments.

“The NHS's provision for mental healthcare is shocking. I asked for counselling and they told me it was a nine month wait and to take some pills,” wrote one woman from Trafford.

“I didn't want to medicate myself so I reached out to mental health charity Mind. They offer counselling at 'pay what you can' and it's amazing! Best counsellors ever.”

“Going through a charity now,” wrote a woman from Manchester. “NHS services never got back to me. It's really hard to reach out to services when you're suffering... so if they don't even contact you back...”

This woman in Stockport summed up the views of many: “Under resourced. Not enough simple, low-level help like talking therapies available to head off problems before they become a crisis.”

Transport

We all like to complain about our transport system, but when asked which bit of it most gets your goat there was one clear favourite: the roads.

One in three people picked the highways as their biggest bugbear, many citing congestion and potholes, although more than one in five said buses – described variously as ‘too expensive’, ‘few and far between’ and ‘plentiful but unreliable’.

But your views vary wildly from area to area.

In Trafford people are more concerned about cycle routes than buses, while Bury people were by far the most irritated by congestion and the state of our highways.

Wigan was the only area to be more concerned about rail improvements than roads – while Salford, Manchester and Oldham were particularly angry about poor bus services.

There is also some good news for transport bosses: a slim majority rated public transport here positively, at over 5/10.

But this comment from a resident in Worsley, Salford, reflected anger among those who hit traffic blackspots daily: “Traffic is a joke. The new guided bus is a total waste of time, unless you live in Leigh – so much traffic headed for the motorways, yet we keep building more and more houses without improving infrastructure.”

One Manchester resident described ‘appalling’ traffic jams, complaining it takes him an hour and a half to drive seven miles to work.

Regionwide, buses were the biggest complaint after roads, Trafford being the exception.

In Manchester and Salford one in four people listed buses as their biggest gripe, while Oldham came out top – at 28pc.

(Image: Mark Waugh)

Comments covered a whole range of complaints, from pricing to the difficulty in making long journeys across different operators, a lack of night buses and general unreliability.

One frustrated traveller in south Manchester summed up many of the problems.

“My family live in Heywood and the 163 bus is a joke, never runs on time and is the only option.

“The trams need to run to Middleton at least, and more buses to serve Heywood. Plus all buses should be run by one company.

“Fares are ridiculous to go on Stagecoach and First Manchester in the same day – travelling from south Manchester to north Manchester is a nightmare and too expensive.”

Housing

(Image: Joel Goodman)

Lack of affordable housing – and difficulties in getting on the ladder – were both borne out in the survey.

Well over one in three people said they were paying more than 30pc of their income in rent or mortgage – the ‘affordable’ threshold for many experts, including Manchester council.

But in Manchester, where affordable housing has become an increasingly hot political potato, 42pc of people were spending more than affordable levels.

Meanwhile of those who said they had not yet bought but wanted to, 40pc overall said it was because they could not get a deposit together.

That was particularly the case in Tameside, where nearly two thirds of renters said the difficulty in raising a deposit was the single biggest reason they were unable to buy, far higher than in other parts of the region.

A further 30pc overall said the primary reason was their overall income being too low.

When asked about priorities for the upcoming mayoral election – see below – affordable housing was the second top priority after healthcare.







Health

The survey suggests a postcode lottery within Greater Manchester’s healthcare system – and a gloomy outlook from readers as a whole.

Across the board most people – 53pc – felt access to NHS services had got worse in the last five years, the only exceptions being Salford and Wigan.

Where areas had seen cuts to services, even five or more years ago, satisfaction rates remain far lower.

In Bury, centre of an ongoing row about walk-in closures and where maternity services were removed from Fairfield several years ago, 59pc felt healthcare access had got worse.

And in Rochdale, where the town's A&E was downgraded in 2011, a substantial two thirds of people felt access had deteriorated.

The same divide was clear in how you rated your local hospitals.

Access to NHS services in past five years

Salfordians were by far the happiest with their nearest service – which in many cases will be Salford Royal, often lauded by government ministers for its strong leadership and pioneering approach.

More than three quarters – 77pc – gave positive scores of 6/10 or higher.

Well over two thirds of people in Wigan and Stockport did the same.

Yet in Rochdale, Oldham and Tameside, satisfaction was much lower.

Just 40pc of people in Rochdale gave their local hospital a positive rating, the worst result in the region – while one in seven scored it just 1/10.

In Oldham and Tameside, 53pc people ranked their hospital positively, also significantly lower than average.

For Salford, Wigan, Stockport and Trafford the most popular rating was 8/10, but in Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, Tameside and Bolton it was 5/10, suggesting a major difference in hospital services across the region.

In Manchester it was 7/10 – but the difference in your comments about different city hospitals was vivid, with the majority about North Manchester General spelling out complaints and anger, while those about Wythenshawe were almost universally positive.

Your comments also outlined just how much support there is for an over-stretched system and its staff, but also pointed to long waits at A&E, difficulties getting GP appointments and continued frustration in areas where services have been withdrawn.

Health workers also had their say, with one man form Bury summing it up like this: “I work in a hospital. Time is running out.”

Wealth

(Image: PA)

The survey underlined the deep economic divide between former mill towns such as Rochdale and affluent Trafford to the south.

Most people across Greater Manchester – 55pc – said they had enough to live on, compared to 45pc who did not.

But in Rochdale and Oldham the split was the other way, with most feeling they had too little.

In Tameside the split was exactly half-and-half, while in the more affluent suburbs of Stockport and Trafford, most people felt they had enough.

Across the region 39pc of people felt job opportunities had got worse in the last decade – with 35pc reporting they had stayed the same and 19pc saying they had improved.

How much people earn

And that picture also varied from place to place.

In Rochdale nearly half felt they had fewer job opportunities than before the economic crash, while in Salford and Trafford the figure was around a third.

Average earnings showed a stark geographical divide too.

In Trafford the average wage of those who responded was more than £38,000, while at the other end of the spectrum Oldham and Tameside's figure was £28,000.

Then there is the gender gap: there are more women than men in every pay bracket up to £35,000.

At that point it shifts the other way. Of the 100 or so people who said they earned over £100,000, just 17 were women.

Overall, two thirds of people earning between minimum wage and £20,000 said they had too little to live on, as well as 40pc of people on between £20,000 and £30,000.

For those on £30,000-£40,000, well above the regional average, one in four people still said they had too little.

Five people earning six figures also said they didn't earn enough to live.

Meanwhile for those who had tried living on benefits in the last five years, a small minority of those who filled out the survey, the vast majority said it had been ‘very hard’ to make ends meet.





Lifestyle

More than a fifth of people in Manchester and Salford admitted to taking illegal drugs in the last year – compared to around one in seven across the region as a whole, or 16pc.

The cities also had the lowest percentage of people who had not smoked or taken drugs at all in the last year.

Trafford and Wigan had the highest, with two thirds of people saying they had done neither.

In Greater Manchester as a whole a third of people had smoked a cigarette in the last year, with over 38pc of people in Rochdale puffing away in the last 12 months and just under 30pc in Trafford.

Taken illegal drugs in last five years

The vast majority of people had not tried legal highs, although people in Manchester were most likely to have done so, with those in Wigan the least.

More than a quarter of people across the region said they never touch a drop of alcohol – and a further third stick to one day a week.

Stockport and Manchester had the highest proportion of people boozing most days, while Oldham had the biggest percentage saying they abstain entirely.

Meanwhile one in four people overall admit to never exercising at all, but the figure rises to over 30pc in Oldham and Tameside.

The fittest area appears to be Salford – where 28pc of people say they exercise most days, compared to 22pc in Rochdale.

There is considerable variation in your social media tastes too.

Who's on social media in Greater Manchester 79% On Facebook 49% On Twitter 44% Use Instagram 30% Use Snapchat 72% On WhatsApp

Stockport is the Facebook capital of Greater Manchester, with a massive 85pc of people using it – although it also came out top across the region as a whole, at 79pc.

Trafford and Stockport were the keenest on Whatsapp, which came second across the region, but Oldham residents were by far and away the biggest fans of Snapchat – with 36pc saying they used the messaging app.

Salford, meanwhile, seems to be having a love affair with Instagram, with nearly half those who responded saying they use it, compared to 44pc overall.

Mayor

There is one very clear message for the new mayor of Greater Manchester, due to elected on May 4: many people don’t even know you’re going to exist. Even fewer know what your powers will be.

More than one in three people – 36pc – had no idea the region was about to get a mayor. In Rochdale that was far higher, with nearly half of people completely unaware.

Among 18-30-year-olds the percentage was more than half.

Meanwhile half of all those who responded across Greater Manchester knew ‘nothing’ about his or her powers.

This is backed up by anecdotes from the campaign trail, with door-knockers reporting very low levels of knowledge or understanding that there will be a major election on May 4.

The overall lack of awareness demonstrated in the survey will be particularly worrying for Labour, not only because a low turn-out traditionally is unhelpful for them, but because while nearly half those who responded voted Labour at the last election, only a third said they had decided to vote for the party's candidate Andy Burnham in the mayoral race.

The top mayoral priority for respondents was health and social care – although this needs to be seen in the context of the people who filled out the survey, below - followed by affordable housing.

(Image: PA)

The survey makes even grimmer reading for the Labour Party nationally than locally, suggesting that even among Labour voters the opposition is less popular than the government.

Nearly half those who responded to the survey had voted for the party in 2015 – making it unsurprising, perhaps, that 33.5pc of the total responses gave Theresa May’s government just 1/10 for satisfaction and an average rating of 3.7/10.

But for Labour, the results were even worse - with a staggering 37pc of people overall giving Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition just 1/10.

On average Labour scored just a fraction under 3/10, despite the largest number of responses coming from Labour voters.

Regarding national political priorities, health and social care again came out top – followed by the economy, education and pay.

Immigration trailed behind all those issues, but more than half those who responded voted Remain in June, perhaps making this unsurprising.





Who filled out the survey?

More than 10,000 people took part in the survey, which ran for just over a month.

The largest proportion of our answers were from people in Manchester – around a quarter – followed by Trafford, Salford and Stockport, but people from every borough took part.

As much as possible we have tried to present statistics by borough, to avoide the figures being skewed by the higher numbers from some areas.

Most of those who took part were aged 18-45, although hundreds of people from other age groups also had their say.

The majority were in full time work, with a split across professions, but the largest number were public sector workers.

More than half – 54pc – voted Remain in the referendum, a higher figure than in real life, while 35pc voted out.

Half voted Labour at the last election, 23pc voted Tory, 10pc Ukip, 7pc Liberal Democrat, 5.5pc Green, 4pc Independent and 1pc BNP.

The expert view... by Andy Westwood and Jess Lishak, Manchester University

All large cities are collections of different communities and places, bringing people together with different lives, skills, opinions and needs. In a sense that is both the economic and social purpose of a city and it is important every now and again to pause and listen to what the people think and say about it.



The MEN's Great Manchester survey allows us to do just that and it shows a series of contrasting opinions about how well this city region is working.



The way that residents view the quality of life and work on offer vary significantly across Greater Manchester. In Manchester 52.7% feel that the quality of life has increased over the last five years while 25.5% think it's getting worse.



In Trafford and Salford 55.9% and 56.5% believe their lives are improving and in Bury and Stockport 57.1% agree. But in Rochdale it's over 10 percentage points lower at 45.3% and in Wigan (44.5%), Oldham (43.4%) and Bolton (42.9%) it's even worse. In Bolton and Rochdale around a third of respondents (33.7% and 32.2%) think their quality of life is getting worse.



This trend continues in the perceptions residents have of the types of jobs available to them today compared to ten years ago before the financial crash.



In Rochdale 49.6% think they are getting worse, in Oldham it's 47% and in Bolton 45.4%. In Trafford and Salford it's much lower 33% and 32% respectively.





In fact you are twice as likely to think that job opportunities have improved in the last ten years if you live in Manchester or Salford (both 24.1%) than if you live in Rochdale (12.1%).



You are around two thirds more likely to think that job opportunities have improved in the last ten years if you are a man (26.1%) than if you are a woman (15.9%) and a man in Manchester is over three times more likely than a woman in Rochdale to think that jobs have improved during this time (29.6% vs 9.5%).



Such a stark set of differences across the city shouldn't really be surprising. According to recent research from the University of Manchester, we discovered that in the southern boroughs - Salford, Tameside, Manchester, Stockport and Trafford - there has been jobs growth of some 60,000 between 2011 and 2014. In the same period the northern boroughs of Bolton, Wigan, Oldham, Rochdale and Bury had no net jobs growth at all.



Many commentators and psephologists have pointed to this economic divide as part of a broader dissatisfaction with the labour market that at least partly explained the vote to leave the European Union in each of these places.



Certainly the referendum result revealed significant differences across Greater Manchester with seven boroughs where a majority wanted to leave and only three (Manchester, Stockport and Trafford where a majority voted to remain. But in this survey 'remainers' are in the majority and outnumber leave voters in every borough except Rochdale.



So what should be the priorities in the UK in the next few years? Improving the NHS and social care comes out as the number one priority, the economy a close second, followed by education, pay and then immigration.



Within Greater Manchester itself the priority is still the NHS and social care but followed by affordable housing, homelessness and mental health. Next comes investment and job creation and then transport.



All together then an agenda for the new Mayor when they take office on 5th May?



But the survey also suggests another priority with further differences across Greater Manchester. Some 67% of respondents living in Manchester know the Mayoral election is happening as well as 73.5% in Trafford and 68% in Wigan.



Two of the major candidates are from two of these places after all. But if you're from Rochdale or Oldham it is significantly lower at 53.7% and 56%.



In Rochdale, Oldham and Tameside, 59.4%, 56.3% and 56% of respondents know nothing about the powers of the Mayor. Across the whole of Greater Manchester nearly 50% of respondents don't know what the Mayor can or can't do.



Perhaps the biggest priority will be to tell them?

What do you make of the results of our survey? We'd welcome your comments. You can comment on our website, or on Facebook