How happy are we in 2022?
In its 10th anniversary year, the 2022 World Happiness Report provides an insight into the happiest countries in the world, the progression of the value of happiness to people, and how the pandemic years have impacted happiness in our communities.
How do you measure happiness?
The report survey asks people to evaluate their current life as a whole using the mental image of a ladder, with the best possible life for them as a 10 and worst possible as a 0. It also asks questions about their experience of positive emotions – such as laughter, learning and joy and negative emotions like worry, sadness and anger.
Approximately 1,000 responses are received from each country and then weighted by external national happiness supporting factors, such as GDP, social support, freedom to make choices and life expectancy at birth.
Finland continues to be the happiest country in the world for the fifth year running, alongside five other high-ranking Nordic countries. New Zealand sits into the top ten, while Australia is ranked 12th. Other large, developed nations such as the US and UK rank 16th and 17th respectively.
How the pandemic impacted happiness
COVID-19 is the biggest global health crisis in more than a century, so it’s interesting to see what impact the pandemic had on happiness indicators. The World Happiness Report found that negative emotions like worry and sadness increased by around 3% across all populations in the last two years. COVID-19 has also:
- reduced the effect of income on life satisfaction,
- increased the benefits of having someone to count on in times of trouble, and
- increased the negative effects of having a health problem or being unemployed.
The good news is that people’s generosity and willingness to help others also rose significantly in the same period. Donations, volunteering and helping strangers all increased, demonstrating the ability of communities to support each other during the stress and strain of the pandemic.
Happiness as a measure of success
The team behind the report believe the true measure of progress is the happiness of people; that happiness can be measured; and that we know a lot about what causes it. And that given this knowledge, policymakers can consider putting people’s happiness at the centre of their policies.
This is already starting to happen around the world. With encouragement from the OECD, nearly all member countries are now measuring the happiness of their people annually. In Australia, the newly elected Labor Government are including a wellbeing chapter in the Federal Budget for the first time in 2022. It’s a recognition of the importance of considering wellbeing measures as an indicator of the country’s progress, alongside more traditional economic indicators such as GDP, productivity or unemployment.
At FMD, we also believe in the importance of wellbeing as a measure of personal progress and success, supported and enabled by wealth. That’s why our advice model and services are focussed on helping our clients achieve optimal health, wealth and happiness. When we talk to our clients about their goals, the happiness of their family and children is usually top of mind. We all know that money can’t buy happiness, but it can support financial security, family prosperity and connection and control over our destiny, which can all contribute to happiness. If you have any goals or ambitions we can support you with, please talk with your FMD adviser.
General advice disclaimer: This article has been prepared by FMD Financial and is intended to be a general overview of the subject matter. The information in this article is not intended to be comprehensive and should not be relied upon as such. In preparing this article we have not taken into account the individual objectives or circumstances of any person. Legal, financial and other professional advice should be sought prior to applying the information contained on this article to particular circumstances. FMD Financial, its officers and employees will not be liable for any loss or damage sustained by any person acting in reliance on the information contained on this article. FMD Group Pty Ltd ABN 99 103 115 591 trading as FMD Financial is a Corporate Authorised Representative of FMD Advisory Services Pty Ltd AFSL 232977. The FMD advisers are Authorised Representatives of FMD Advisory Services Pty Ltd AFSL 232977. Rev Invest Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative of FMD Advisory Services Pty Ltd AFSL 232977.