Survey finds money doesn't buy happiness

LONDON (Reuters) - Britons are wealthier, healthier and living longer, but seem no happier than before, a report showed on Tuesday.

In its annual "Social Trends" report, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that Britain's output per head had more than doubled in the last 30 years, and in 2005 was the third highest among the Group of Seven industrialised countries.

Health-wise things were also looking up, with mortality rates for circulatory diseases such as heart disease and strokes showing a marked decline since the 1970s.

Deaths from cancer and respiratory illnesses were also falling steadily, the report showed, and life expectancy continues to rise.

But the report said satisfaction with the standard of living in Britain had remained largely steady since the 1970s, rather than rising along with country's increasing wealth.

"This would suggest that societal well-being has not improved, even though economic well-being has steadily improved," ONS expert Paul Allin told reporters.

Survey data shows that each year since 1973 an average of 86 percent of people said they were "very" or "fairly satisfied" with their standard of living. In 2006, the figure was 85 percent, compared to six percent who rated themselves as "fairly" or "very dissatisfied".

These figures were in keeping with the Easterlin Paradox, an economic phenomenon where life satisfaction stays level once a country's wealth passes a certain point, Allin said.

(Reporting by Raissa Kasolowsky, editing by Paul Casciato)