Wellbeing; alterations in marital status and employment situation,1998/2009

Wellbeing; alterations in marital status and employment situation,1998/2009

Change of life event Personal characteristics Figure category Happy persons Before life event 8 years or more before (%) Happy persons Before life event 4 to 5 years before (%) Happy persons Before life event 3 to 4 years before (%) Happy persons Before life event 2 to 3 years before (%) Happy persons Before life event 1 to 2 years before (%) Happy persons Before life event 0 to 1 year before (%) Happy persons After life event 0 to 1 year after (%) Happy persons After life event 1 to 2 years after (%) Happy persons After life event 2 to 3 years after (%) Happy persons After life event 3 to 4 years after (%) Happy persons After life event 4 to 5 years after (%) Happy persons After life event 8 years or more after (%)
No change in marital status Total population Percentages 88.0 88.1 88.1 88.0 88.0 87.9 88.0 88.0 88.0 87.9 87.9 87.9
No change in marital status Total population Standard error 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
No change in marital status Gender: male Percentages 89.2 89.3 89.3 89.3 89.2 89.1 89.2 89.1 89.1 89.1 89.1 89.1
No change in marital status Gender: male Standard error 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
No change in marital status Gender: female Percentages 86.9 87.0 86.9 86.9 86.8 86.8 86.9 86.9 86.8 86.8 86.8 86.8
No change in marital status Gender: female Standard error 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
No change in marital status Age: 20 to 35 years Percentages 91.0 91.0 91.1 91.0 91.0 90.9 90.9 90.9 91.0 91.0 91.0 91.0
No change in marital status Age: 20 to 35 years Standard error 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
No change in marital status Age: 35 to 50 years Percentages 88.5 88.6 88.5 88.5 88.5 88.5 88.6 88.5 88.5 88.5 88.4 88.5
No change in marital status Age: 35 to 50 years Standard error 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
No change in marital status Age: 50 to 65 years Percentages 87.1 87.1 87.1 87.1 87.1 87.1 87.3 87.2 87.2 87.2 87.0 87.0
No change in marital status Age: 50 to 65 years Standard error 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
No change in marital status Age: 65 years or older Percentages 83.8 84.0 83.9 83.8 83.6 83.5 83.9 83.7 83.6 83.5 83.5 83.4
No change in marital status Age: 65 years or older Standard error 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
New status: married or partnership Total population Percentages 90.2 89.7 89.9 90.9 91.4 93.9 94.3 93.9 93.7 92.3 93.4 89.4
New status: married or partnership Total population Standard error 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.9 1.0 2.3
New status: married or partnership Gender: male Percentages 91.7 89.8 90.9 90.4 92.4 93.4 93.3 95.7 93.3 92.3 93.9 94.3
New status: married or partnership Gender: male Standard error 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.9 1.0 1.4 0.8 0.8 1.0 1.3 1.3 2.6
New status: married or partnership Gender: female Percentages 88.1 89.6 88.8 91.5 90.2 94.5 95.2 92.1 94.1 92.3 92.9 85.6
New status: married or partnership Gender: female Standard error 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.3 0.8 0.9 0.9 1.3 1.5 3.4
New status: married or partnership Age: 20 to 35 years Percentages 92.9 93.4 92.6 94.6 94.7 95.3 95.6 95.8 94.9 94.6 93.4 .
New status: married or partnership Age: 20 to 35 years Standard error 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.9 0.6 0.7 0.8 1.0 1.3 .
New status: married or partnership Age: 35 to 50 years Percentages 84.2 84.4 86.1 82.9 84.7 92.5 91.5 90.8 92.8 89.9 93.3 93.2
New status: married or partnership Age: 35 to 50 years Standard error 2.1 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.3 2.4 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.9 1.6 2.3
New status: married or partnership Age: 50 to 65 years Percentages 65.2 70.4 79.1 76.0 76.5 . 94.7 94.9 88.5 89.1 92.5 .
New status: married or partnership Age: 50 to 65 years Standard error 5.9 5.8 4.5 4.5 5.3 . 2.4 2.6 3.2 3.3 4.3 .
New status: married or partnership Age: 65 years or older Percentages . . . . . . . . . . . .
New status: married or partnership Age: 65 years or older Standard error . . . . . . . . . . . .
New status: widowed Total population Percentages 89.3 88.6 88.5 85.9 85.8 69.0 46.6 60.0 63.1 65.5 72.6 .
New status: widowed Total population Standard error 1.0 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.5 3.0 2.2 2.4 2.6 3.1 3.2 .
New status: widowed Gender: male Percentages 91.8 90.0 91.9 83.5 82.3 78.6 43.3 53.8 65.1 65.2 76.8 .
New status: widowed Gender: male Standard error 1.6 2.1 2.1 2.3 2.8 4.5 3.7 4.2 5.1 6.3 6.1 .
New status: widowed Gender: female Percentages 88.3 88.0 87.0 86.9 87.5 63.4 48.3 62.7 62.3 65.6 71.1 .
New status: widowed Gender: female Standard error 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.5 1.8 4.1 2.8 2.8 3.1 3.6 3.7 .
New status: widowed Age: 20 to 35 years Percentages . . . . . . . . . . . .
New status: widowed Age: 20 to 35 years Standard error . . . . . . . . . . . .
New status: widowed Age: 35 to 50 years Percentages 91.1 88.8 90.5 86.5 78.8 . . . . . . .
New status: widowed Age: 35 to 50 years Standard error 2.2 3.7 2.9 4.4 4.3 . . . . . . .
New status: widowed Age: 50 to 65 years Percentages 89.8 85.3 88.9 89.1 87.7 64.4 41.2 47.8 53.5 51.1 . .
New status: widowed Age: 50 to 65 years Standard error 1.5 2.3 2.5 2.3 2.9 6.5 4.3 4.8 5.7 6.9 . .
New status: widowed Age: 65 years or older Percentages 89.0 89.7 87.6 85.4 86.2 73.2 49.6 64.1 66.4 70.2 70.0 .
New status: widowed Age: 65 years or older Standard error 1.5 1.5 1.7 1.6 1.9 3.6 2.7 2.8 3.1 3.6 3.8 .
New status: divorced Total population Percentages 91.0 85.4 83.8 86.7 83.4 74.0 67.3 74.7 75.6 77.7 83.1 83.6
New status: divorced Total population Standard error 0.9 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.4 2.8 2.0 2.0 2.1 2.3 2.5 5.0
New status: divorced Gender: male Percentages 91.9 88.3 77.0 86.9 88.4 78.7 65.8 76.5 72.7 83.8 82.5 .
New status: divorced Gender: male Standard error 1.2 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.9 3.9 3.0 2.9 3.2 2.9 3.6 .
New status: divorced Gender: female Percentages 90.1 82.7 92.0 86.5 79.1 70.2 68.9 73.1 78.4 72.4 83.8 .
New status: divorced Gender: female Standard error 1.3 1.7 1.4 1.5 2.0 3.9 2.8 2.8 2.8 3.3 3.4 .
New status: divorced Age: 20 to 35 years Percentages 93.1 89.6 80.7 90.1 88.0 78.6 71.3 82.4 82.1 . . .
New status: divorced Age: 20 to 35 years Standard error 1.1 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.9 4.3 3.9 3.6 4.8 . . .
New status: divorced Age: 35 to 50 years Percentages 89.5 80.9 87.8 83.9 81.2 72.8 67.7 74.7 78.3 79.7 86.3 .
New status: divorced Age: 35 to 50 years Standard error 1.4 1.9 1.5 1.8 2.1 3.9 2.7 2.7 2.7 2.8 3.2 .
New status: divorced Age: 50 to 65 years Percentages 88.0 82.7 83.5 86.4 77.4 . 60.9 66.1 66.0 70.6 80.8 .
New status: divorced Age: 50 to 65 years Standard error 4.2 4.6 4.5 3.3 5.5 . 5.1 5.1 4.8 5.5 4.8 .
New status: divorced Age: 65 years or older Percentages . . . . . . . . . . . .
New status: divorced Age: 65 years or older Standard error . . . . . . . . . . . .
No change in employment situation Total population Percentages 87.9 87.9 87.9 87.9 88.0 87.9 87.9 87.9 87.9 87.9 87.9 87.9
No change in employment situation Total population Standard error 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
No change in employment situation Gender: male Percentages 89.1 89.1 89.1 89.1 89.1 89.1 89.1 89.2 89.1 89.2 89.2 89.1
No change in employment situation Gender: male Standard error 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
No change in employment situation Gender: female Percentages 86.8 86.8 86.8 86.8 86.8 86.8 86.8 86.8 86.8 86.8 86.8 86.7
No change in employment situation Gender: female Standard error 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
No change in employment situation Age: 20 to 35 years Percentages 91.0 91.1 91.1 91.1 91.2 91.1 91.1 91.1 91.0 91.1 91.1 90.9
No change in employment situation Age: 20 to 35 years Standard error 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
No change in employment situation Age: 35 to 50 years Percentages 88.5 88.5 88.6 88.6 88.6 88.5 88.7 88.7 88.7 88.7 88.7 88.6
No change in employment situation Age: 35 to 50 years Standard error 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
No change in employment situation Age: 50 to 65 years Percentages 87.0 87.0 87.0 87.0 87.0 87.0 87.0 87.0 87.0 87.0 87.1 87.0
No change in employment situation Age: 50 to 65 years Standard error 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
No change in employment situation Age: 65 years or older Percentages 83.4 83.4 83.4 83.4 83.4 83.4 83.3 83.4 83.4 83.4 83.4 83.3
No change in employment situation Age: 65 years or older Standard error 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
New status: employed Total population Percentages 84.9 85.7 84.8 85.9 85.7 84.9 88.7 88.6 89.2 88.6 87.8 90.1
New status: employed Total population Standard error 0.9 0.7 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 1.0
New status: employed Gender: male Percentages 83.7 84.6 83.7 85.5 86.3 84.3 89.0 87.7 89.9 87.8 87.0 89.2
New status: employed Gender: male Standard error 1.3 0.9 0.9 0.8 0.8 1.0 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.4
New status: employed Gender: female Percentages 85.9 87.1 86.1 86.3 85.0 85.5 88.5 89.5 88.4 89.6 88.6 91.1
New status: employed Gender: female Standard error 1.2 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8 1.1 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.8 0.9 1.3
New status: employed Age: 20 to 35 years Percentages 84.7 86.4 86.9 88.8 86.3 86.8 91.0 90.8 91.7 90.3 90.1 92.7
New status: employed Age: 20 to 35 years Standard error 1.2 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.8 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.9
New status: employed Age: 35 to 50 years Percentages 85.4 83.5 81.1 79.9 84.5 79.6 80.4 78.1 76.8 80.5 77.3 79.9
New status: employed Age: 35 to 50 years Standard error 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.7 1.6 1.7 2.1 2.1 2.4 3.4
New status: employed Age: 50 to 65 years Percentages 83.2 90.2 82.1 82.4 84.7 87.5 84.1 85.9 82.5 81.7 78.9 85.6
New status: employed Age: 50 to 65 years Standard error 4.1 2.2 2.4 2.2 1.9 2.8 2.2 2.2 2.7 2.9 3.5 4.3
New status: employed Age: 65 years or older Percentages . . . . . .
New status: employed Age: 65 years or older Standard error . . . . . .
New status: disabled Total population Percentages 81.4 80.3 82.4 78.1 78.9 60.6 75.5 71.8 76.0 76.6 76.0 74.8
New status: disabled Total population Standard error 1.8 1.7 1.6 1.6 1.7 3.6 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.3 2.8 4.0
New status: disabled Gender: male Percentages 79.8 80.1 80.9 79.1 81.3 55.8 73.4 67.0 75.1 76.0 76.7 71.1
New status: disabled Gender: male Standard error 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.2 2.2 5.1 2.7 3.0 2.8 3.2 3.6 5.8
New status: disabled Gender: female Percentages 83.2 80.5 83.9 77.1 75.7 68.1 77.8 77.8 77.1 77.4 75.2 .
New status: disabled Gender: female Standard error 2.7 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.7 5.2 2.4 2.7 3.3 3.3 4.4 .
New status: disabled Age: 20 to 35 years Percentages 73.5 83.5 84.7 71.3 76.8 . 68.6 70.1 78.6 . . .
New status: disabled Age: 20 to 35 years Standard error 4.0 2.7 3.6 3.4 3.6 . 4.5 4.6 5.6 . . .
New status: disabled Age: 35 to 50 years Percentages 83.3 78.2 79.7 80.9 71.3 . 70.9 63.6 73.4 72.2 67.2 .
New status: disabled Age: 35 to 50 years Standard error 2.2 2.7 2.5 2.6 3.1 . 3.1 3.9 3.9 4.0 6.0 .
New status: disabled Age: 50 to 65 years Percentages 88.4 80.2 83.8 80.1 89.0 61.3 81.6 77.4 77.2 77.8 79.3 .
New status: disabled Age: 50 to 65 years Standard error 4.5 3.1 2.7 2.5 2.4 5.8 2.5 2.8 3.0 3.3 3.6 .
New status: disabled Age: 65 years or older Percentages . . . . . .
New status: disabled Age: 65 years or older Standard error . . . . . .
New status: unemployed Total population Percentages 86.7 84.6 82.3 82.8 78.9 82.0 86.0 85.2 84.3 79.0 81.0 78.9
New status: unemployed Total population Standard error 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.2 1.3 2.1 1.2 1.4 1.6 2.0 2.3 3.2
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Dataset is not available.


This table contains information on the personal wellbeing of the Dutch population aged 20 years and older, from private households, in terms of happiness and satisfaction with life. These subjects are broken down by various life events, that is changes in marital status (single, widowed, divorced, married/partnership) and employment situation (disability, unemployment or social security benefit, employed and retired). The share of the population who are happy and satisfied is presented for the total population and broken down by age and gender. In addition, these figures are available for different moments before and after the life event. In this way, experienced wellbeing before or after a change in marital status or employment situation can be examined,

Data available from 1998 to 2009; displayed figures are average numbers over these years.

Status of the figures:
The figures in this table are definite.

Changes per February 1st 2019:
None, this table is final.

When will new figures be published?
Not applicable.

Description topics

Happy persons
Share of the population who responded ‘happy’ or ‘very happy’ to the question ‘To what extent do you consider yourself a happy person?’.
Figures represent population of 20 years and older.
Before life event
8 years or more before
Share of the population who are happy or satisfied with life 8 years or more before the life event.

4 to 5 years before
Share of the population who are happy or satisfied with life 4 to 5 years before the life event.

3 to 4 years before
Share of the population who are happy or satisfied with life 3 to 4 years before the life event.

2 to 3 years before
Share of the population who are happy or satisfied with life 2 to 3 years before the life event.

1 to 2 years before
Share of the population who are happy or satisfied with life 1 to 2 years before the life event.

0 to 1 year before
Share of the population who are happy or satisfied with life 0 to 1 year before the life event.
After life event
0 to 1 year after
Share of the population who are happy or satisfied with life 0 to 1 year after the life event.
1 to 2 years after
Share of the population who are happy or satisfied with life 1 to 2 years after the life event.

2 to 3 years after
Share of the population who are happy or satisfied with life 2 to 3 years after the life event.

3 to 4 years after
Share of the population who are happy or satisfied with life 3 to 4 years after the life event.

4 to 5 years after
Share of the population who are happy or satisfied with life 4 to 5 years after the life event.

8 years or more after
Share of the population who are happy or satisfied with life 8 years or more after the life event.