What a time for the annual World Happiness Report to come out, right in the middle of a worldwide pandemic.
So what does the latest version of the World Happiness Report, which began 10 years ago, say about our happiness in 2020?
The World Happiness Report is an annual survey of how satisfied people worldwide are with their lives, looking at Gallup poll data of 1,000 people from more than 150 countries over a three-year period.
The report says rich countries are happier than poor countries, with one of the authors saying it’s no joy to be poor.
But based on the rankings of happiest countries there has to be more to it than that.
Finland ranked number one with other Scandinavian countries near the top as well.
The United States has fallen from 11th to 18th on the scale of happiest countries.
The editor of the World Happiness Report says it measures general satisfaction with life and the confidence that one lives in a place where people take care of one another. As he puts it, happy people wouldn’t have the highest smile factor but they do trust each other and care about each other.”
Another person behind the study suggests the lower ranking of happiness in the U.S could be the result of a loss of faith in institutions. He says, “This idea that we’re all in this together is really being tested”
And he offers this:“We’re going to have to find that common sense of shared responsibility to pull through the crisis.”
READ THE WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT.
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