Global Happiness: Which Countries Are The Most (And Least) Miserable?

[DamianTV]

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...east-miserable

How much happier would you be if were given a 10% raise?

While money can be a crucial indicator of happiness at lower income levels, Visual Capitalist's Iman Ghosh notes that studies have found that as incomes rise, money becomes a less important part of the overall happiness equation.

In fact, researchers see happiness as a complex measure that involves many variables outside of material wealth, including social support, freedom, and health.

MEASURING GLOBAL HAPPINESS

Today’s chart uses data from the World Happiness Report 2018 to measure and understand which countries report feeling the most and least happy.

Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist

WHAT CONTRIBUTES TO HAPPINESS?

The six key variables used by researchers in this report on global happiness include:

1. GDP per capita
2. Healthy life expectancy
3. Social support
4. Freedom of choice
5. Generosity
6. Perceptions of corruption

While average income and life expectancy definitely carry their weight in explaining happiness levels, what’s more interesting are the Gallup World Poll (GWP) questions about the other, more subjective variables.

• Social support
  “If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them?”
• Freedom to make life choices
  “Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?”
• Generosity
  “Have you donated money to a charity in the past month?”
• Perceptions of corruption
  “Is corruption widespread throughout the government or not?”
  “Is corruption widespread within businesses or not?”

HOW HAPPY IS THE WORLD?

The top tier of happiest countries happen to be Nordic, with Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland making it into the top five. Aside from having a common geographic location, these countries are also well-known for their social safety nets, using a high tax burden to fund government services such as education and healthcare.

A surprising entry near the top of the list might be Costa Rica. It’s the happiest country in the Latin American region, despite persisting income inequality issues. Although it has a lower GDP per capita than other high-ranking entries, the country has more than made up for it through social support; Costa Rica has invested significantly in education and health as a proportion of GDP, and the nation is also known for housing a culture that forms solid social networks of friends, families and neighborhoods.

On the other hand, 18 of the least happy countries are concentrated on the African continent. GDP per capita varies intensely among the bottom countries, and many report a lack of freedom overall. A silver lining is that social support is relatively stable, and there have been steady improvements over time.

Finally, the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis has had a ripple effect on global happiness. The report demonstrates where the most and fewest advances have been made.

• Togo
  Happiness is on the upswing, as the West African nation climbs 17 places to demonstrate the most improvement.
• Venezuela
  Meanwhile, the South American country plummeted even further, in part from socio-political changes and dramatic hyperinflation.

Where does your country fare on this scale?



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Full article at link.

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United States - Ranks in at 107 with an index of -0.315

We're #1!

[ThePaleoLibertarian]

You can find all sorts of correlates, but international happiness comparisons between first world countries say far more about something inherent in the nature of the population than any particular state of affairs within the country. Japan is supposedly significantly happier than the US, but their suicide rate is double ours, even though suicides in the US have been increasing since the dawn of the new millennium.

[DamianTV]

Of course suicides here are skyrocketing, every aspect of our society is rigged against people. "Just take these drugs" because your financial problems are all your own fault. @tod evans hopefully can weigh in on this, but Plea Deals getting truly innocent people to plead guilty and accept lesser sentences out of fear of risk of long prison sentences. Opiate addiction, everything is addictive, $#@! jobs, no future for so many, and the problems and the people are swept under the rug. Can anyone really blame them for losing hope?

[Pauls' Revere]

I think that happiness is how narrow the gap is between what you expect out of life and the reality your in.