---
title: "Less Happy Smokers"
description: "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."
date: "2009-04-09"
authors:
  - name: "Russell Heimlich"
    job_title: "Former web developer"
    link: "https://www.pewresearch.org/staff/russell-heimlich/"
url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2009/04/09/less-happy-smokers/"
---

# Less Happy Smokers

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, according to a Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends survey. 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. 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. [Read More](https://www.pewresearch.org/pubs/1185/smoking-stress-quitting)