Happiness, Health, Life Satisfaction
The survey also finds that smokers are less happy and less healthy than both non-smokers and quitters.
About a quarter of current smokers say that they are very happy, compared with more than a third of quitters and almost four-in-ten non-smokers.
Consistent with what decades of public health research shows, smokers also report being in poorer health than non-smokers and quitters. Fewer than half of smokers (45%) say that their health is excellent or very good, compared with 63% of non-smokers and 55% of former smokers.
When asked whether they are satisfied with their family life, smokers are less likely than non-smokers and quitters to say that they are “very satisfied”: About six-in-ten current smokers say they are very satisfied, compared with about seven-in-ten non-smokers and quitters. Smokers’ satisfaction level with their job is also lower than that of non-smokers, and their satisfaction with their standard of living is lower than that of both quitters and non-smokers.
Who Smokes and Who Doesn’t?
According to the Pew Research survey, more than half of adults (54%) have either never smoked or smoked fewer than 100 cigarettes in their lifetime. Another 22% are former smokers or “quitters,” and 24% are currently smoking. (This 24% figure is slightly higher than the 2l% figure for 2008 reported by the CDC.)
Women are more likely than men to be non-smokers (59% vs. 49%), the Pew survey finds. However, a quarter of men have quit smoking, compared with just 18% of women, which explains the nearly equal rates of current smoking within each gender.
Older adults are less likely than younger adults to be current smokers. Some 31% of 18-29 year olds are smokers, compared with just 11% of those ages 65 and older.
However, the younger age group also has a bigger share of people who never smoked. Six-in-ten adults under age 30 have never smoked or have not smoked more than 100 cigarettes in their lives. But among people who are ages 50 or older, only somewhere between four-in-ten and half never smoked.
Hispanics and blacks are both more likely than whites to be non-smokers. More than six-in-ten Hispanics and blacks have never smoked, compared with about half of whites.
High family income and high levels of education are associated with a low occurrence of smoking, and so is being married. Also, conservatives are more likely than liberals to be non-smokers (56% vs. 50%).
Region matters too. Compared with other regions of the country, the Midwest has the highest rate of smoking. Nearly three-in-ten (28%) Midwesterners are currently smoking, compared with only one in five Westerners.
Consistent with what decades of public health research shows, smokers also report being in poorer health than non-smokers and quitters.