The good life fails to make Britain happy
WE may never have had it so good, but the British remain a glum lot. Researchers have found that when it comes to happiness, Britain is ranked below 20 other nations, including far poorer countries such as Uruguay, Mexico, Ghana and Colombia.
The research confirms that money alone cannot buy happiness. Despite an 80% increase in income per head in the past 30 years, levels of happiness in Britain have remained virtually static.
In the meantime, Latin American countries such as Colombia — which is riven by civil war — and Uruguay are nearly 10% happier despite their relative poverty, higher levels of crime and stark inequalities. Experts believe the strength of family ties outweighs the elements of misery.
Professor Ruut Veenhoven, author of the “life satisfaction index” and a leading academic expert on happiness, said: “I was surprised to see countries like Mexico ranking so highly. But Latin America is known for its warm family ties, the way of life and enjoyment of festivals and the particular brand of Catholicism, all of which contribute to people’s happiness.”
By contrast, experts believe a combination of the “rat race” of rising working hours and the decline of traditional families and communities has resulted in happiness levels reaching a plateau in Britain.
The new index uses data from 100,000 people in 90 countries who were asked, on a scale of 1-10, how happy they were.
The average was then modified according to “equality of happiness” — nations with wide differences between the happiest and saddest citizens were thus pushed down the ranking.
In Britain the research, published this month in the Journal of Happiness Studies, finds that levels of happiness have virtually levelled out since 1973, rising by just 1.36%.
“Happiness has a ceiling,” said Veenhoven, a sociologist at Erasmus University Rotterdam. “The relation between money and happiness is subject to the law of diminishing returns. Once you earn more than $10,000 [£5,600] per head in a country it levels off.”
But happiness in other European nations has increased at a far greater rate than in Britain. In France it has risen more than twice as much, in Denmark by 5.12% and in Italy by 10.57%.
The government is starting to take note. In 2003 the Downing Street strategy unit hosted a seminar where concerns were raised that Britain was falling behind its European neighbours in terms of life satisfaction.
Lord Layard, a former Labour adviser on unemployment and emeritus professor of economics at the London School of Economics, argues that while wealth in Britain has increased, family relationships and sense of community have deteriorated.
Divorce rates have more than quadrupled since 1970 while every year 40,000 children and adolescents in Britain are prescribed antidepressants.
“Economic growth is important but we shouldn’t sacrifice other things which are equally important, for example human relationships,” he said. “It is a logical absurdity to be continually urging people to get ahead.”
The idea that money does not create happiness is supported by a growing body of evidence. Research by Andrew Oswald, an economics professor at Warwick University, has found that marriage has a bigger impact on how long someone lives than income.
WE may never have had it so good, but the British remain a glum lot. Researchers have found that when it comes to happiness, Britain is ranked below 20 other nations, including far poorer countries such as Uruguay, Mexico, Ghana and Colombia.
The research confirms that money alone cannot buy happiness. Despite an 80% increase in income per head in the past 30 years, levels of happiness in Britain have remained virtually static.
In the meantime, Latin American countries such as Colombia — which is riven by civil war — and Uruguay are nearly 10% happier despite their relative poverty, higher levels of crime and stark inequalities. Experts believe the strength of family ties outweighs the elements of misery.
Professor Ruut Veenhoven, author of the “life satisfaction index” and a leading academic expert on happiness, said: “I was surprised to see countries like Mexico ranking so highly. But Latin America is known for its warm family ties, the way of life and enjoyment of festivals and the particular brand of Catholicism, all of which contribute to people’s happiness.”
By contrast, experts believe a combination of the “rat race” of rising working hours and the decline of traditional families and communities has resulted in happiness levels reaching a plateau in Britain.
The new index uses data from 100,000 people in 90 countries who were asked, on a scale of 1-10, how happy they were.
The average was then modified according to “equality of happiness” — nations with wide differences between the happiest and saddest citizens were thus pushed down the ranking.
In Britain the research, published this month in the Journal of Happiness Studies, finds that levels of happiness have virtually levelled out since 1973, rising by just 1.36%.
“Happiness has a ceiling,” said Veenhoven, a sociologist at Erasmus University Rotterdam. “The relation between money and happiness is subject to the law of diminishing returns. Once you earn more than $10,000 [£5,600] per head in a country it levels off.”
But happiness in other European nations has increased at a far greater rate than in Britain. In France it has risen more than twice as much, in Denmark by 5.12% and in Italy by 10.57%.
The government is starting to take note. In 2003 the Downing Street strategy unit hosted a seminar where concerns were raised that Britain was falling behind its European neighbours in terms of life satisfaction.
Lord Layard, a former Labour adviser on unemployment and emeritus professor of economics at the London School of Economics, argues that while wealth in Britain has increased, family relationships and sense of community have deteriorated.
Divorce rates have more than quadrupled since 1970 while every year 40,000 children and adolescents in Britain are prescribed antidepressants.
“Economic growth is important but we shouldn’t sacrifice other things which are equally important, for example human relationships,” he said. “It is a logical absurdity to be continually urging people to get ahead.”
The idea that money does not create happiness is supported by a growing body of evidence. Research by Andrew Oswald, an economics professor at Warwick University, has found that marriage has a bigger impact on how long someone lives than income.
That's why.
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