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Turkish police detained more than 300 suspected Isis members on Tuesday, a day after a shootout south of Istanbul left…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans overwhelmingly point to adequate housing, time with loved ones and getting enough sleep as very important ingredients of a good life, according to a new national survey examining what people value and how these values relate to their day-to-day experiences and overall life evaluations.
About nine in 10 U.S. adults, 92%, say having adequate shelter or housing is “very important” to their vision of a good life for themselves. Roughly three in four say the same about spending time or connecting with a romantic partner, friends or family (78%) and getting enough sleep (76%). Majorities also place high importance on avoiding physical pain (67%), having enough money for planned purchases and activities (65%), and regular exercise or physical activity (58%).
Meanwhile, less than half of Americans rate 13 other activities as very important, but majorities rate each as at least “somewhat important.” These include cooking, spending time in nature, learning new skills, applying those skills to solve problems, practicing spirituality or religious reflection, reading books, engaging in activities to promote mental health (e.g., meditation), creating or listening to music, spending time alone, reading or watching the news, creating or enjoying art, engaging in civic or community activities, and buying things beyond the basic necessities.
Just two activities in the survey fall short of earning at least “somewhat important” ratings from majorities of Americans: using AI tools and using social media.
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Gallup and the Aspen Ideas Festival partnered on the Gallup-Aspen Ideas American Values Study to survey Americans on the elements of a good life. Interviews were conducted on the web, from Oct. 1-15, 2025, with 2,167 adult members of the Gallup Panel.
After rating the importance of each experience to having a good life, respondents reported how often they engaged in these activities over the prior week.
Adequate housing was the most common experience: 93% said they had it on four or more days. More than half also reported frequent engagement (four or more days) with social connections, consuming news, using social media, preparing meals, creating or listening to music, getting enough sleep, having enough money for planned purchases, exercising, and avoiding physical pain.
By contrast, no more than 15% regularly engaged in civic or community activities, created or enjoyed art, purchased items beyond basic necessities, or used AI tools for ideas or recommendations.
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The combined findings tell us how the experiences and activities Americans report engaging in relate to those they consider part of a good life. Many experiences that Americans value highly are also those they report having at least once during the week — such as adequate housing, time with loved ones, getting enough sleep, financial sufficiency for planned needs, exercising and avoiding physical pain.
Yet several activities that Americans engage in frequently are not viewed as central to a good life, but are a part of daily chores for many (e.g., cooking, which 93% said they did at least once, but less than half consider it very important). Other commonly experienced, but not important, activities may be done out of necessity. For example, most people report having spent time alone at least once (81%), but fewer than four in 10 rate it as highly important.
A notable mismatch appears in social media use. Only 6% of Americans say using social media for entertainment is very important to a good life, yet 85% used it at least once and 63% on most days during the prior week. Similar gaps arise for reading or watching the news (about one in four rate it as very important, while 92% report having read or watched at least once) and purchasing nonessential items (two in 10 rate it as very important; about three in four purchased nonessential items at least once).
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Time spent on several experiences and activities in the survey is statistically associated with how Americans rate the quality of their current lives using the 0-10 Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale.
Two experiences that Americans judge to be very important for living a good life show positive linear relationships with how people rate the quality of their lives. For these activities, more frequent engagement is consistently linked with higher life evaluations:
For three other activities, there is a link between engagement and higher ratings of the quality of people’s current lives, but there seems to be an optimal range, beyond which additional engagement does not translate into higher life evaluations. These are:
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These findings suggest that some activities contribute steadily to how people feel about their lives, while others provide meaningful benefits in moderation.
Regardless of what constitutes a good life for any individual, spending more time doing what one values may have wellbeing benefits. To test this, four categories were created, based on the alignment between respondents’ values (i.e., experiences and activities that they judged as “very” or “somewhat” important) and their pattern of engagement in these experiences and activities (i.e., how many days they said they engaged in the activities or experiences during a week). Each respondent was placed into one of these categories based on their dominant pattern of engagement in activities and experiences during a one-week period.
Most Americans (67%) spend much of their week engaging in activities they consider important. About one-quarter do so only occasionally, while 7% rarely or never do.
This alignment is strongly connected to wellbeing. Individuals who frequently engage in activities they value are far more likely to be thriving — defined here as rating their current life at 8 or above and their anticipated life in five years at 9 or 10: More than four in 10 Americans who often do what they value meet the thriving threshold. That figure drops to 26% among those who only occasionally do what they value, and to 20% among those who rarely or never do.
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Americans share a clear vision of what constitutes a good life, anchored in housing stability, meaningful social relationships, physical health and financial security. While many regularly experience what they value most, large portions of daily life are devoted to activities that Americans do not regard as essential to living well — particularly social media use and news consumption.
Experiences most strongly linked with higher life evaluations involve connection, security and self-expression. Even for some activities that few Americans deem essential — such as reading or creating art — moderate engagement appears to offer meaningful wellbeing benefits.
Perhaps the most important finding is that alignment matters. People who spend their time in ways that reflect their personal values report substantially higher levels of thriving. Creating environments, opportunities and routines that help Americans engage more often in the activities they value may support greater overall wellbeing and optimism about the future.
Stay up to date with the latest insights by following @Gallup on X and on Instagram.
Learn more about how the Gallup Panel works.
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This article first appeared on GuruFocus.
Shares of Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) slipped on Monday after reports said multiple semiconductor companies plan GPU price increases in early 2026.
Multiple outlets reported AMD would raise prices next…
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Archie MitchellBusiness reporter
Getty ImagesOctopus Energy is set to spin off its Kraken Technologies arm as a standalone company after a deal to sell a stake in the platform valued it at $8.65bn (£6.4bn).
The energy giant, Britain’s biggest gas and electricity supplier, has sold a $1bn stake in the AI-based division to a group of investors led by New York-based D1 Capital Partners.
The move paves the way for Kraken to be demerged from Octopus, and for a potential stock market flotation for the business in the future.
Octopus founder and chief executive Greg Jackson told the BBC there was “every chance” Kraken would list its shares “in the medium term”, with the location of the flotation “between London and the US”.
Kraken uses AI to automate customer service and billing for energy companies and can manage when customers use energy, rewarding them for reducing consumption at peak times.
It was initially built for use by Octopus but has since picked up a raft of other utilities clients, including EDF, E.On Next, TalkTalk and National Grid US. It now serves 70 million household and business accounts around the world.
The majority of the $1bn investment will go to Octopus to fund its expansion, with Kraken receiving the rest. Mr Jackson said Kraken will be operating completely independently of Octopus “within a few months”.
Other investors in the business included Fidelity International and a unit of Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, with Octopus maintaining a 13.7% stake in Kraken.
Kraken chief executive Amir Orad said the spinoff would give it the “focus and freedom” to grow, with the company having previously struggled to do business with Octopus’s rivals.
Mr Jackson said that for a large tech firm such as Kraken, the location for its share listing would be either London or the US.
“One thing about Kraken is we’ve got this global investor base… and so really the stock exchanges have got to kind of show why they are the right one for business.”
A London listing for Kraken’s shares would reverse a trend of firms snubbing the UK in favour of floating in the US.
Mr Jackson said Octopus had created 12,000 jobs in the UK, with 1,500 of these attributed to Kraken.
He said the company would keep its headquarters in the UK, and that “if London can be the right place to list, I would love that”.
“But it’s down to be where you’re going to get the most investor support and the most support from the stock exchange.”
The demerger comes amid the continued growth of Octopus Energy, which overtook British Gas to become the UK’s largest energy supplier earlier this year, serving 7.7 million households.
But it confirmed this year it was one of three retail energy firms that had not yet met regulator Ofgem’s financial resilience targets.
Octopus said the cash injection would “almost double Octopus Energy Group’s already strong balance sheet”.
The deal was announced as Octopus published its results for the year to April, revealing it made a £260m loss before tax, compared with a £78m pre-tax profit a year earlier.
That came despite overall sales rising by a tenth to £13.7bn. Octopus took a hit from lower energy demand due to warmer weather and the ending of energy crisis allowance payments in 2024.
It said warmer weather hit profits by around £103m, blaming the UK’s hottest spring on record since 1885, which saw gas usage slump by 11% in March and 25% in April.
30 December 2025
West Northamptonshire Council has today (30 December) published the latest draft of its Local Plan, ahead of councillors considering proposals for public consultation at the Planning Policy Committee meeting on 8 January.
The Local Plan is a key document shaping the future of development across West Northamptonshire up to 2043. It sets out how land will be used for housing, employment, green spaces, and infrastructure, while supporting regeneration and protecting the environment. This updated draft reflects significant changes since the last consultation, including new policies on sustainability, health and wellbeing, and placemaking, alongside proposals for growth in towns and rural areas.
The Plan also includes:
Following committee consideration, the draft plan and intention to launch a public consultation will be discussed at full Council on 19 January. A major public engagement will then launch in late January, giving residents, town and parish councils, businesses, and community groups the chance to have their say. This will run for eight weeks and include opportunities to comment on the draft plan and propose new sites, including those for Gypsy and Traveller accommodation and further Local Green Spaces.
This Local Plan is one of the most important documents we produce, setting out how we balance homes, jobs, and infrastructure while protecting our environment and creating thriving places for future generations. The views of residents, parishes, and businesses will be vital in shaping the final plan, and I strongly encourage everyone to get involved when the consultation opens in February.Cllr Thomas Manning, Cabinet Member for Planning at West Northamptonshire Council
See the agenda for the Planning Policy Committee meeting on 8 January. Further details on how to take part will be shared in the new year.
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