The data may look like crap (to you) but it’s better than absolutist remarks and anecdotal allusions... and as this thread so aptly shows, there’s been a range of reactions, some even favourable.
There are absolutist remarks because people know whether or not their own well-being has improved, much better than a study that attempts to declare what their reality is. More than ever, I’m suspicious that social scientists might have an agenda. And their methods are, as usual, not even close to physical sciences.