Temkin Group has been doing large-scale consumer research for several years. As part of our ongoing studies, we track many consumer attitudes. To gauge the overall quality of life for the U.S. population, we created the Temkin Well-Being Index (TWBi) based on a few of those attitudinal elements.

The TWBi is based on a survey of 10,000 U.S. consumers in January. The overall index is an average of three measurements representing the percentage of U.S. adults (18 and older) who agree with these statements:

• I am typically happy
• I am healthy
• I am financially secure

We’ve been tracking it since 2012.  As you can see in the figure below:

• After the TWBi reached 65.9%, the highest over the six years we’ve been tracking the metric.
• The increase of 4 %-points between 2016 and 2017 is the largest single-year increase.
• All three areas of the TWBi are at their highest levels, and increased since last year. The largest increase is in financial security, which gained 5.5 %-points between 2016 and 2017.