What do these so-called “happiness” surveys measure, and how do they make comparisons and rankings? The most famous is the World Happiness Report (WHR), which began in 2012. It is produced by an organization called the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, which was set up by the UN, and its editors include prominent economists such as Jeffrey Sachs and Richard Layard. It aims to measure “subjective well-being”. “Happiness” was chosen for the title, the report explains, as a deliberate simplification to attract more attention from laypeople (WHR 2015, p. 17), and I have followed suit in this blog.
Subjective well-being is ascertained by life evaluations, including overall satisfaction with life, and by reports of positive and negative emotions (the latter based on Gallup Global Wellbeing research). A complicated methodology aggregates various components that explain the differences in the countries’ composite scores: GDP per capital, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity and trust. The results make for catchy tabloid headlines, but the report is very comprehensive, slicing and dicing the data across many parameters and featuring extended essays on timely topics. It is intended as a supplement to purely economic measures such as GDP to be used in public policy decisions, and it is growing in influence around the world.
And the winner is...
Denmark ranked first in the WHR in 2013 and 2014, dropped to number 3 in 2015 behind Switzerland and Iceland, and then returned to the top in the recent 2016 update. The United States has landed consistently in the mid-teens. The exact ranking of the countries is not the essential information. The main point to notice in the list is the similarity of the highest ranked countries. The Nordic countries always fill most of the top slots. Rounding out the top 10 are other small European countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands and the small or mid-sized English-speaking countries New Zealand, Australia and Canada. They are generally small, ethnically homogeneous, white, Protestant, peripherally located social democracies.
Denmark ranked first in the WHR in 2013 and 2014, dropped to number 3 in 2015 behind Switzerland and Iceland, and then returned to the top in the recent 2016 update. The United States has landed consistently in the mid-teens. The exact ranking of the countries is not the essential information. The main point to notice in the list is the similarity of the highest ranked countries. The Nordic countries always fill most of the top slots. Rounding out the top 10 are other small European countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands and the small or mid-sized English-speaking countries New Zealand, Australia and Canada. They are generally small, ethnically homogeneous, white, Protestant, peripherally located social democracies.
Another salient fact in the table is that the differences between the scores of countries adjacent to each other in the rankings, at least near the top, are usually smaller than the margins of error. This means that in a good year, any one of several contenders could land at the top, and they could all furnish instructive examples for America. Denmark seems as representative as any. I’m surprised, actually, that it’s back on top, since its economy is still rather stagnant and the political mood is contentious, but perhaps it shows that the rest of the world is doing no better.
In the feelgood category
When only the reports of positive emotion are used, as in Gallup’s Positive Experience Index, the results are markedly different. This survey asks people about their positive experiences the day before: were they well-rested and treated with respect “all day”, did they smile or laugh, did they learn something or feel enjoyment “during a lot of the day”. In 2015, all of the top 10 countries were in Latin America. “Money isn’t everything in life,” the report notes. Number 2, Guatemala, ranks 118th in GDP per capita. Curiously, the United States and Denmark are next to each other around the 25th spot. But about 20 other countries have the same scores as they do. As the WHR explains, it chose to focus on life evaluations for international comparison because emotional reports vary much less by region.
When only the reports of positive emotion are used, as in Gallup’s Positive Experience Index, the results are markedly different. This survey asks people about their positive experiences the day before: were they well-rested and treated with respect “all day”, did they smile or laugh, did they learn something or feel enjoyment “during a lot of the day”. In 2015, all of the top 10 countries were in Latin America. “Money isn’t everything in life,” the report notes. Number 2, Guatemala, ranks 118th in GDP per capita. Curiously, the United States and Denmark are next to each other around the 25th spot. But about 20 other countries have the same scores as they do. As the WHR explains, it chose to focus on life evaluations for international comparison because emotional reports vary much less by region.
Another comprehensive report is the OECD Better Life Index, which began in 2011 and covers around 40 countries. It also has a complicated methodology combining 11 factors: housing, income and wealth, job earnings and security, social support, education, environment, “involvement in democracy”, health, life satisfaction, safety and work-life balance. Australia currently ranks first, Denmark fifth, and the usual leaders from the WHR fill out the top 10, with one exception, the United States at number 7.
A collective prize
As I said, the main conclusions to be drawn from a glance at the top of the lists are that that the countries are similar in type and nearly interchangeable in the rankings. This suggests strong correlations among demographics, ideology and subjective well-being. What causes what is less clear. Romina Boarini of the OECD says unequivocally, “We do know the more unequally the income is distributed the lower life satisfaction.” That would seem to support Bernie Sanders’s reform proposals and attacks on Wall Street and its Washington enablers (who’s enabling whom, or it symbiosis?). While Denmark fits the low Gini coefficient profile, another, more localized if somewhat counterintuitive explanation for its high standing has been circulating ever since these surveys began: low expectations. But that’s a topic for another day.
As I said, the main conclusions to be drawn from a glance at the top of the lists are that that the countries are similar in type and nearly interchangeable in the rankings. This suggests strong correlations among demographics, ideology and subjective well-being. What causes what is less clear. Romina Boarini of the OECD says unequivocally, “We do know the more unequally the income is distributed the lower life satisfaction.” That would seem to support Bernie Sanders’s reform proposals and attacks on Wall Street and its Washington enablers (who’s enabling whom, or it symbiosis?). While Denmark fits the low Gini coefficient profile, another, more localized if somewhat counterintuitive explanation for its high standing has been circulating ever since these surveys began: low expectations. But that’s a topic for another day.
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