Albanian pensioners turn out to be the unhappiest in Europe. The Global Happiness Index ranks Albania 103rd among 143 countries surveyed. We asked some of the pensioners in the center of the capital who answered.

“But what happiness I have now at the age of 86, when all the children have gone abroad. My wife died. I have a small pension, 137,000 Lek cooperative pension, 55,000 Lek I take medicine, and how I live, don’t ask me about happiness at all”, said a pensioner.

“We are very happy, as long as I eat, for nothing else, I need 200 thousand lek for medicine and visits a month, 300 thousand lek I get a pension, how happy can I be?” said another.

“Happiness is if I have money to overflow. If I could go to the whole world, wander and return to where I please. It is happiness. How will we be happy? If we were happy, we wouldn’t be staying here”, continued a pensioner.

According to the report, people over 60 years old in Albania are unhappier even in relation to other age groups, and at the same time the level of unhappiness has increased compared to the 2006 report.

“The first reason is the change in the typology of the Albanian family. In these 30 years, a great upheaval has taken place from the former family where the role of the elderly was great. The transition to the modern family brought about a re-dimension of the status of the elderly and they have experienced it a lot. I think that immigration is a very important factor that has influenced. I guarantee you that among the main factors, loneliness is a factor that depresses the elderly. Diseases do not allow the elderly to be happy. Undoubtedly, it would be ridiculous to say that the elderly would be happy and without money”, said sociologist Gëzim Tushe.

Recognizing the factors that make the elderly unhappy, the sociologist says that the time has come to take action to improve the quality of life of the elderly in Albania. First by socializing them so they don’t feel alone, making them feel useful in the family and society.