New Delhi, Jul 6 (IANS): As the Covid-19 pandemic spreads across the world infecting millions, forcing people to maintain social distancing, interrupting normal life, forcing businesses to shut shops and leading to job losses, most Indians feel that more money would make them happier.

As per the IANS CVoter GMRA Happiness Index tracker, 70.5 per cent of the respondents said they "strongly agree" to the question, "Do you think rise in income makes you happier?"

Another 14.5 per cent of the respondent s agreed to some extent with the statement, while only 6.1 per cent of people surveyed responded with "strongly disagree" with the statement. Another 2.8 per cent somewhat disagreed with the statement.

There was a clear divide between older people (60 years and above) and freshers (below 25 years) with only 65.6 per cent older people responding with "strongly agree" and 13.4 per cent "agree to some extent" while 74.8 per cent of the freshers strongly agreed and another 13.8 per cent somewhat agreed to the statement.

Among religious groups, Sikhs overwhelmingly agreed with the statement while Christians agreed the least. Among respondents, 95.5 per cent Sikhs "strongly agreed" with the statement while another 2.3 per cent agreed with the statement to some extent.

Only 2.1 per cent of the Sikh respondents strongly disagreed with the statement. As many as 45.0 per cent of all the Christian respondents strongly agreed and another 26.9 per cent agreed to some extent with the statement that rise in income level makes them happier while 10.8 per cent respondents disagreed with the statement.

Regionally, North Indian respondents most emphatically agreed with the statement with 82.5 per cent strongly agreeing and another 9.4 per cent agreeing to some extent. Among South Indian respondents, only 49.3 per cent respondents strongly agreed with the statement with another 27.4 per cent agreeing to some extent.

The rural-urban divide was very clear with 73.0 per cent urban people strongly agreeing with the statement with another 11.1 per cent agreeing to some extent. The figures for rural area were 51.5 per cent and 29.2 per cent, respectively.

The survey was conducted by CVoter in association with Delhi-based NGO Gender Mainstreaming Research Association (GMRA) as part of their ongoing effort to develop a comprehensive Happiness Index for India.