Sydney - Only five percent of Australia's millionaires regard themselves as prosperous and many believe they are struggling close to the poverty line, according to a study released on Wednesday.
The Australia Institute, an independent social policies think-tank, surveyed 12 000 people with a wide range of incomes and found richer respondents complained more about their lot in life.
The study found only five percent of people with a household net worth of a million Australian dollars (about R5,2-million) believed they were prosperous while seven percent of the very wealthy - with assets of three million dollars or more - described themselves as "poor" or "just getting along".
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Report co-author Clive Hamilton said the study found 13 percent of those in the highest income group felt totally satisfied with life, while 21 percent of those in the poorest group felt the same way.
| 'Life satisfaction is little affected by differences in wealth' |
"Far from the belief that higher incomes and more assets will create a prosperous nation, it seems that the relentless emphasis on higher incomes will in fact generate more dissatisfaction," Hamilton said in a statement.
In monetary terms, Australia is one of the world's most prosperous nations, with average household income of AUS$60 000 and average household assets of more than AUS$410 000.
But Hamilton said the study backed the adage that money cannot buy happiness.
"Overall life satisfaction is little affected by differences in wealth," he said. "It seems that the richer that we become, the less satisfied we are with our incomes. It's as if our levels of desire always stay ahead of our actual levels of income." - Sapa-AFP
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