What has been the impact of the Arab Spring on Egyptian citizens? How did the uprisings affect ‎their aspirations, their problems and their relationship with the state? The literature on Arab ‎uprisings, particularly in Egypt, explores the causes and dynamics of these uprisings and the roles ‎that different groups (particularly youth, women and workers), political organisations (e.g. the ‎Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis), state institutions (particularly the army) and social media played ‎in them. ‎ What is lacking from these analyses are people’s voices which are crucial for understanding ‘how’ ‎these political changes affected the lives and aspirations of deprived communities. Building on ‎primary data collected in 2006/7 and in 2015, this paper tracks people’s wellbeing perceptions and ‎aspirations in two deprived communities, (1) Manshiet Nasser (one of the largest slum areas in ‎Cairo) and rural villages in Menia (one of the poorest governorates in Upper Egypt) over a nine year ‎period. The paper presents an inter-temporal and intra-case study analyses that examines how the ‎dynamics of wellbeing and aspirations have been affected by political changes in Egypt. Through a ‎wellbeing questionnaire, the paper explores the main elements of a good life that people value, their ‎main areas of deprivation, as well as their (unfulfilled) aspirations and examines the impacts of ‎recent political changes on people’s well-being and aspirations in both settings. ‎ Theoretically, the paper links the literature on wellbeing, aspirations and political change. It ‎explores the role of the state in fulfilling (or frustrating) people's aspirations. By examining the ‎impact of political uprisings on people’s wellbeing and aspirations; the paper fills an existing gap in ‎the literature on human development and political change. This is particularly important, for ‎example because most studies on the Arab Spring have so far mainly focused on the analysis of ‎authoritarianism, democracy, geopolitics and political economy; thus failing to account for the ‎relationship between wellbeing, aspirations and political change which this paper seeks to address.‎ Empirically, this paper draws on two waves of data collection (before and after the recent political ‎changes) to create a grounded and dynamic picture of how individual and communal wellbeing ‎changed over time. The paper is also policy relevant as it examines people's perceptions on the role ‎that the state, donors, and NGOs should/do play in promoting their wellbeing. Understanding these ‎roles is crucial to narrow down the gap between people’s aspirations and state policies; an essential ‎step for political stability.‎