HAPPINESS MEIK WIKING CEO THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

HAPPINESS MEIK WIKING CEO THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

• Where is happiness on the political agenda? • How do we measure happiness? • Why does Denmark do well in the happiness rankings?

THE UNITED NATIONS: THE HAPPINESS RESOLUTION “The pursuit of happiness lies at the core of human endeavors. ” Ban Ki Moon, Secretary-general, UN THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

BHUTAN: GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS

“The main job for the government is to create happiness. ” Ohood Al Roumi, Minister of Happiness, United Arab Emirates

”We will start measuring our progress as a country, not just by how our economy is growing, but by how our lives are improving. Not just by our standard of living, but by our quality of life. ” David Cameron, Prime Minister, UK

OECD: BETTER LIFE INDEX Improving the quality of our lives should be the ultimate target of public policies” Ángel Gurría, Secretary-general, OECD THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

EGYPT BEFORE THE ARAB SPRING 7000 6000 5000 35 6114 5904 29 27 5158 4762 6367 30 5508 25 25 4000 20 3000 15 13 13 12 2000 10 1000 5 0 0 2005 2006 2007 GDP per capita ($US) 2008 2009 2010 Thriving percentage Source: OECD Guidelines on Measuring Subjective Well-being, 2013

• Where is happiness on the political agenda? • How do we measure happiness? • Why does Denmark do well in the happiness rankings?

“Measure what is measurable, and make measurable what is not so. ” Galileo Galilei THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

KEY CHALLENGES 1. HAPPINESS IS MULTIDIMENSIONAL 2. HAPPINESS IS SUBJECTIVE 3. CAUSE AND EFFECT

1. HAPPINESS IS MULTIDIMENSIONAL THE GOOD LIFE – HOW CAN WE DEFINE IT? Quality of life ”The general well-being of a person or society, defined in terms of health and happiness, rather than wealth” Happiness “The experience of joy, contentment, or positive well-being, combined with a sense that one’s life is good, meaningful, and worthwhile. ” Subjective Well-being “Good mental states, including all of the various evaluations, positive and negative that people make of their lives and the affective reactions of people to their experiences. ”

• How is the economy? – GDP per capita – Growth – Inflation – Unemployment • How is the weather? – Temperature – Humidity – Wind • How is your happiness?

COGNITIVE (LIFE SATISFACTION) AFFECTIVE (MOOD) EUDAIMONIC (PURPOSE) THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

COGNITIVE (LIFE SATISFACTION) EMPLOYMENT AFFECTIVE (MOOD) EUDAIMONIC (PURPOSE) THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

COGNITIVE (LIFE SATISFACTION) INCOME AFFECTIVE (MOOD) EUDAIMONIC (PURPOSE) THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

COGNITIVE (LIFE SATISFACTION) HEALTH ? AFFECTIVE (MOOD) EUDAIMONIC (PURPOSE) THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

WHAT DO HAPPY PEOPLE HAVE IN COMMON? THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

WHAT DO HEALTHY PEOPLE HAVE IN COMMON? THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

2. HAPPINESS IS SUBJECTIVE • WONDERFUL! • IT HAS NOT STOPPED US BEFORE “The most fundamental indicator of your happiness is how happy YOU feel, not whether others see you smiling, your family thinks you are happy, or you have all the presumed material advantages of a good life. ” UN, World Happiness Report THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

HAPPINESS IS SUBJECTIVE THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

DEPRESSION IS SUBJECTIVE THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

3. WHAT IS CAUSE AND WHAT IS EFFECT 10 9. 5 9 8. 5 8 7. 5 7 6. 5 6. 3 6 Married Single

3. WHAT IS CAUSE AND WHAT IS EFFECT DO WE GET HAPPIER FROM MARRIAGE OR DO HAPPY PEOPLE GET MARRIED? THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

6 97 19 98 19 99 20 00 20 01 20 02 20 03 20 04 20 05 20 06 20 07 20 08 20 09 20 10 20 11 20 12 20 13 20 14 20 15 7 19 96 19 95 19 PANEL STUDY 10 9 8 Marriage 5 4 3 Marriage 2 1 Marriage 0 Albert Bella Clemens Doris Eric

HAPPINESS THE EFFECT OF INTERVENTION X 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 YEAR THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

• Where is happiness on the political agenda? • How do we measure happiness? • Why does Denmark do well in the happiness rankings?

WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2012 WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2013 WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2015 WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2016 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. DENMARK FINLAND NORWAY NETHERLANDS CANADA SWITZERLAND SWEDEN NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIA IRELAND DENMARK NORWAY SWITZERLAND NETHERLANDS SWEDEN CANADA FINLAND AUSTRIA ICELAND AUSTRALIA SWITZERLAND ICELAND DENMARK NORWAY CANADA FINLAND NETHERLANDS SWEDEN NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIA DENMARK SWITZERLAND ICELAND NORWAY FINLAND CANADA NETHERLANDS NEW ZEALAND AUSTRALIA SWEDEN THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2016 1. DENMARK 2. SWITZERLAND 3. ICELAND 4. NORWAY 5. FINLAND 6. CANADA 7. NETHERLANDS 8. NEW ZEALAND 9. AUSTRALIA 10. SWEDEN 22. SINGAPORE 33. THAILAND 35. TAIWAN 47. MALAYSIA (7. 526) (7. 509) (7. 501) (7. 498) (7. 413) (7. 404) (7. 339) (7. 334) (7. 313) (7. 291) (6. 739) (6. 474) (6. 379) (6. 005) 53. JAPAN 58. SOUTH KOREA 75. HONG KONG 79. INDONESIA 82. PHILIPPINES 83. CHINA 84. BHUTAN 96. VIETNAM 102. LAOS 107. NEPAL 110. BANGLADESH 117. SRI LANKA 118. INDIA 119. MYANMAR (5. 921) (5. 835) (5. 458) (5. 314) (5. 279) (5. 245) (5. 196) (5. 061) (4. 876) (4. 793) (4. 643) (4. 415) (4. 404) (4. 395)

EUROPEAN SOCIAL SURVEY 22. TURKEY WORLD HAPPINESS 23. RUSSIA REPORT 2016 24. HUNGARY 25. BULGARIA 153. Benin (3. 484) 26. UKRAINE 154. Afghanistan (3. 360) 155. Togo (3. 303) 156. Syria (3. 069) 157. Burundi (2. 905)

1: SOCIAL SECURITY If you get sick Universal and free health care. When you grow old Services provided to maintain daily life. If you lose your job Generous unemployment benefits. THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

How happy are you all in all? 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Extremely unhappy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Extremely happy

2: PERSONAL FREEDOM Free university education Gender equality Marriage equality ”No people can be truly happy if they do not feel that they are choosing the course of their own life. ” World Happiness Report 2012 THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

What is the common denominator in these pictures?

3: TRUST AND HAPPINESS SOURCE: EUROPEAN SOCIAL SURVEY AND WORLD DATABASE OF HAPPINESS THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

4: DEMOCRACY AND GOOD GOVERNANCE High level of trust in institutions Low level of corruption Broad public support for high taxation CORRUPTION PERCEPTIONS INDEX 2015 RANK 1 2 3 4 5 5 7 8 9 10 COUNTRY Denmark Finland Sweden New Zealand Netherlands Norway Switzerland Singapore Canada Germany Source: Transparency International 2015

5: WORK-LIFE BALANCE Five weeks paid holiday 52 weeks of parental leave out of which the parents can receive up to 32 weeks of monetary support from the state The right to take time off on their children’s first day of illness Three out of four Danish children at the age of three or below are under childcare WORK-LIFE BALANCE RANK 1 2 3 4 5 5 7 8 9 10 COUNTRY Netherlands Denmark France Spain Belgium Norway Sweden Germany Russian Federation Ireland Source: OECD Better Life Index 2016 Companies support autonomy and flexibility: • 25 per cent of Danes are empowered to decide on their working hours • 17 per cent of them are actively carrying out a proportion of their work at home.

AGE AND HAPPINESS Happiness 44 Age Source: Blanchflower & Oswald: Is wellbeing U-shape over the life cycle, 2008

AGE AND HAPPINESS DENMARK 9 Taking all things together, how happy would you say you are? 0=Extremely unhappy, 10=Extremely happy 8. 5 8. 4 8. 2 8. 1 8 7. 5 7 Under 19 19 -29 30 -39 40 -49 50 -59 60+ Source: European Social Survey 2014

6: WORK 94% of Danes are satisfied with working conditions 7 out of 10 Danes would continue to enjoy their current work even if they became economically independent EU SATISFACTION WITH WORKING CONDITIONS DENMARK 94% AUSTRIA 90% BELGIUM 90% FINLAND 89% EU AVERAGE 77% CROATIA 60% ROMANIA 60% SPAIN 53% GREECE 38% ”People are redefining the workplace. previously we thought work was hell and leisure was great. That is just silly. Work can – and should be – a source of happiness, if workplaces are designed right. ” John Helliwell, co-editor of the World Happiness Report

7: WEATLH WEALTH AND HAPPINESS SOURCE: OCED OG CIA WORLD FACTBOOK

INCOME AND HAPPINESS SOURCE: EUROPEAN SOCIAL SURVEY 2006

GDP PER CAPITA DENMARK (INDEX 1981) SOURCE: WORLD HAPPINESS DATABASE AND WORLD BANK GDP PER CAPITA HAPPINESS

RICHER COUNTRIES ARE HAPPIER RICHER PEOPLE ARE HAPPIER THEN WHY DON´T WE GET HAPPIER WHEN WE GET RICHER AS A COUNTRY?

Distribution Adaptation Relativism THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

WOULD YOU RATHER? A)MAKE 50, 000 PER YEAR IN A COUNTRY WHERE EVERYBODY ELSE MAKE 25, 000 B)MAKE 100, 000 PER YEAR IN A COUNTRY WHERE EVERYBODY ELSE MAKE 200, 000 THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE

8: CIVIL SOCIETY High level of social capital High level of volunteer work Abundance of associations 8. 3 7. 1 10 9 6. 1 8 Happiness 7 6 3. 3 5 4 3 2 1 0 Not at all To a small degree To some degree How satisfied are you with your social relationships? Very much so

KEY REASONS SOCIAL SECURITY FREEDOM TRUST GOOD GOVERNANCE WORK LIFE BALANCE WORK WEALTH CIVIL SOCIETY THE HAPPINESS RESEARCH INSTITUTE 51

TIME FOR QUESTIONS STAY IN TOUCH The Happiness Research Institute @Meik. Wiking info@happinessresearchinstitute. com

Lithuania Guyana China Hungary Latvia Russia Serbia Uruguay Finland Poland Estonia Suriname Austria Cuba United States Norway United Kingdom Portugal Denmark Chile Switzerland India Slovakia Australia Turkmenistan Republic of Macedonia Zimbabwe Thailand Spain Ecuador Italy Israel Panama Colombia Uzbekistan Georgia Mexico Bahrain Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Paraguay Guatemala Greece Venezuela Tajikistan Dominican Republic Kuwait Jordan SUICIDE RATE (PER 100. 000) 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Source: World Health Organisation

ANTI- DEPRESSANTS CONSUMPTION Source: OECD Health at a glance, 2015