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🇺🇦 Ukraine /Culture & Society

Despite the war, 71% of Ukrainians consider themselves happy, poll finds

From Ukrainska Pravda · () Ukrainian

Translated from Ukrainian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Documents & data Context piece
  • A Kyiv International Institute of Sociology survey found that 71% of Ukrainians considered themselves happy, while 16% considered themselves unhappy.
  • Happiness was higher among people under 40 than among those aged 70 and over, and researchers said the age pattern differs from findings in the United States and Europe.
  • The telephone survey questioned 2,007 adults from May 7 to June 3, 2026, excluding residents of occupied territories and citizens who left Ukraine after February 2022.

Despite the war and the strain facing Ukrainian society, most Ukrainians still describe themselves as happy. A Kyiv International Institute of Sociology survey found that 71% gave a positive answer, including 31% who said they were definitely happy and 40% who said they were more happy than unhappy.

Another 11% said they were both happy and unhappy. Sixteen percent expressed a negative view, with 9% saying they were more unhappy than happy and 7% saying they were unhappy.

Men are slightly happier than women, but this is largely due to the fact that women in Ukraine live about 10 years longer than men, and the level of happiness in Ukraine decreases with age.

· Kyiv International Institute of SociologyThe institute explained the gender difference recorded in the survey.

The survey found that happiness declines with age. In May 2026, 75% of Ukrainians under 40 considered themselves happy, compared with 60% of those aged 70 and over. KIIS said men were slightly happier than women, attributing much of the difference to women’s longer life expectancy, the decline in happiness with age and greater loneliness among older women.

The level of happiness in Ukraine decreases with age.

· Kyiv International Institute of SociologyResearchers identified the age pattern as a major feature of the findings.

Researchers said this pattern differs from many studies in the United States and European countries, where subjective well-being typically follows a U-shaped curve, declining until about age 45 to 50 before rising again. Volodymyr Paniotto, KIIS director general, said early wartime research produced “paradoxical results at first glance,” because happiness and other subjective indicators did not initially deteriorate despite severe losses of income, housing, normal routines and family contact.

The survey used telephone interviews with a random sample of mobile numbers from May 7 to June 3, 2026. It included 2,007 Ukrainians aged 18 and over. Residents of temporarily occupied territories were excluded, although some internally displaced people from those areas took part. Ukrainians who left the country after February 24, 2022, were also excluded.

paradoxical results at first glance

· Volodymyr PaniottoThe KIIS director general described early wartime findings on happiness and other subjective indicators.
About this summary

Originally published by Ukrainska Pravda in Ukrainian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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