Chapter 99.1 outlines this pattern with data from the English Lon-
gitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Participants responded
to the question “I am satisfied with my life,” with ratings
that could range from 1 = strongly disagree to 7 = strongly
agree. For comparability purpose with the other chapters,
we transposed the responses into a scale of 0– 10 and present
only these transformed results. It can be seen that mean rat-
ings rose from relatively low levels at age 50– 54, reaching a
peak around 70– 74 years. On average, life- satisfaction levels
are slightly higher for men than for women, although this
pattern varies with age. Similar results have emerged from
the national survey of life- satisfaction conducted by the Of-
fice for National Statistics, in which ratings are highest on
average at 70– 74 years.^4 Various explanations for this pat-
tern have been put forward, including the possibility that
older people increasingly focus on a restricted set of positive
experiences and social contacts, whereas in middle age peo-
ple focus on work and other less appealing aspects of life.^5
This highlights the question of what drives life- satisfaction
10
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0Life-satisfaction rating50–54 55–59 60–64Men65–69 70–74 75–79 80–84 85+WomenFigure 9.1. Average life- satisfaction (0– 10): by age (ELSA)