Dubai: Rising rents and job insecurity are the two biggest worries among UAE residents, a new happiness survey conducted by a Dubai-based online consultancy has revealed.
The survey, conducted by www.whichschooladvisor.com, interviewed over 3,400 people of various nationalities, age groups and income brackets across the seven emirates between May and June. According to the survey, rising rents and job insecurity together constituted over 50 per cent of residents’ worries at 28.7 per cent and 21.4 per cent respectively.
Significantly, the most affected were in the Dh12,000-Dh20,000 income bracket. “We found those earning between Dh12,000 and Dh20,000 are often the most financially impacted by changes - more than those earning up to Dh12,000 - as they are more likely to have families, homes, children in school, etc. This makes the group very sensitive to any price inflation,” said James Mullan, co-founder of whichschooladvisor.com.
He said job insecurity is more prevalent among some nationalities than others. “Arabs tend to worry about it the most. This group is most likely to have a family living with them, and a sizeable one too. Losing a job in the UAE, which often means losing the right to reside in the country, would have an impact on them and directly on those around them.”
The survey showed that the one overriding reason why people like to stay in the UAE is the standard of living, with a fourth of the respondents citing it as the top consideration. “It looks like pay and career opportunities are what bring people to the UAE, but it’s the standard of living that keeps us here. Another finding in the survey backs this up – 69 per cent of respondents said they feel better off in the UAE than in their home country, whereas just 13 per cent said they would have a better standard of living at home.”
Mullan said when respondents were allowed to choose multiple (as opposed to just one) options in what made them want to live in the UAE, lack of crime leaped into the No. 2 spot, ahead of pay and career opportunities. “Everyone values these intangibles that make living in the UAE a fulfilling one. However, as human beings we are always primarily concerned with improving our more immediate surroundings - and that requires capital - or the opportunity to earn it.”
MANY OPPORTUNITIES
He said the survey also made it clear that people come to the UAE because of opportunities. “There is definitely a reverse brain drain going on with bright, able and talented individuals being sucked into the country from developed and developing markets around the world. All nationalities in the survey acknowledge that the UAE offers more opportunity than their home countries.”
Analysing the happiness quotient that emerged in the survey, he said: “Happiness increases as income rises. The graph is almost linear with people’s happiness quotient higher with each dirham earned. There are a couple of oddities in the findings though – first, the number of respondents who are ‘very happy’ declines from those earning Dh7,000 up to Dh15,000. Also the rule that rising income brings happiness begins to break down above a certain point - Dh70,000 of monthly household income.”
He said: “We think what is happening is that once a certain level is reached, people do not worry about money as much. When you do not have to worry about food, a roof over your head, or education costs, you begin to worry about something else.
“We see that the more you earn, the less a pay rise matters to respondents, the less that pay or career opportunities figure in their motivations. Basically, the more you have, the less you seem to value it.
“This in many ways backs up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Once we have satisfied the physiological, it becomes about something else — respect, love... self actualisation. As human beings we remain driven, but what drives us changes.”
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