When Talking Heads questioned definitions of happiness in its classic song Once in a Lifetime, its lyrics could have been painting a picture for early 21st-century Ireland.

For contentment is not best found in owning a “large automobile”, the “beautiful house” and “beautiful” spouse, but in “letting the days go by” as an over 65-year-old living outside the Pale.

A detailed study of responses given by more than 2,500 Irish participants in a European Social Survey four years ago has confirmed once again that satisfaction cannot be defined by the standard media concepts of “happiness”.

The analysis of the data by a University College Cork economist found that contentment was at its highest among residents of rural Ireland, among those over 65 but “not unemployed” and those with children and religion as a part of daily life.

Having regular social contact and being a trusting person were also influential factors.

Economic benefits

There are sound economic reasons for this, as higher levels of well-being lead to less absenteeism, lower staff turnover and greater productivity.

She also noted that countries with higher rates of satisfaction tended to have fewer divorces.

Although the data she analysed was first collected in 2010, during the depths of the recession, it showed that income had a “significant” but “modest” impact on satisfaction.

There was no difference between men and women in ranking the influence of income.

However, unemployment did have a “significant negative effect” on people, while those with a third-level education were happier than those who finished at second level, she said.

Fuel poverty

“Overall, it bears out literature showing that we are at our happiest when younger or older, while not so during those transitional ages in our 30s and 40s,” she said.

Also speaking at the NUIG conference, Trinity College Dublin economist Maria Mileder noted that senior citizens were less likely to suffer from fuel poverty than those aged under 65.

The general definition for being “fuel poor” is being without domestic heating in the last 12 months.

Ms Mileder noted that the chances of being fuel poor were much higher for people below the age of 65, particularly those in the 25- to 49-year age bracket, according to the Household Budget Survey of 2009-2010.

This showed that the fuel poor did not necessarily fall into current definitions of poverty, she said.

Those who were most likely to experience fuel poverty were single, divorced or separated people; unemployed people and students and those without any formal education after the Leaving Certificate, she said.