How much would your life change if you won the lottery? Would you pack in the job, move house or head permanently to sunnier climes to wallow happily in your wealth?
If you would, then you would not be the typical lottery winner, according to the findings of a new survey in Britain. The MORI research found that money does not bring happiness, with almost half (45 per cent) of winners claiming to be no happier as a result of their new-found riches and 2 per cent insisting they were unhappier.
Sure, there were the new houses, cars and the foreign holidays, but the most remarkable finding was that life for most of the winners changed very little.
Half were still in the same job, and more than half had not moved house. Of those who had moved, the average distance was just nine miles. One in eight had not been abroad, and 37 per cent still bought supermarket own-brand food.
Life had changed so little for some winners that nine out of 10 admitted they still played the lottery each week.
In the survey undertaken for the British lottery operator, Camelot, 294 winners were questioned. These varied from winners of £50,000 to 111 lottery millionaires.
The findings were in line with the experience of Irish winners, according to the National Lottery press officer, Ms Paula McEvoy. "Most of them have not changed their lifestyles immediately. They still live with their friends and neighbours and want to keep their feet on the ground," she said.
"The whole thrill is you can do all these things, but you do not have to. It gives you choice, complete with financial security for the rest of your life."
Efforts to confirm this with actual lottery winners failed last night as those The Irish Times tried to contact were out of the State.