World Happiness Report 2017
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WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2 0 1 7 Editors: John Helliwell, Richard Layard, and Jeffrey Sachs Associate Editors: Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Haifang Huang and Shun Wang TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Overview 2 John F. Helliwell, Richard Layard and Jeffrey D. Sachs 2. Social Foundations of World Happiness 8 John F. Helliwell, Haifang Huang and Shun Wang 3. Growth and Happiness in China, 1990-2015 48 Richard A. Easterlin, Fei Wang and Shun Wang 4. ‘Waiting for Happiness’ in Africa 84 Valerie Møller, Benjamin Roberts, Habib Tiliouine and Jay Loschky 5. The Key Determinants of Happiness and Misery 122 Andrew Clark, Sarah Flèche, Richard Layard, Nattavudh Powdthavee and George Ward 6. Happiness at Work 144 Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and George Ward 7. Restoring American Happiness 178 Jeffrey D. Sachs The World Happiness Report was written by a group of independent experts acting in their personal capacities. Any views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization, agency or programme of the United Nations. Chapter 1 OVERVIEW JOHN F. HELLIWELL, RICHARD LAYARD AND JEFFREY D. SACHS 2 John F. Helliwell, Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and Vancouver School of Economics, University of British Columbia Richard Layard, Director, Well-Being Programme, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director of The Center for Sustainable Development at The Earth Institute, Columbia University, and the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and Special Advisor to United Nations Secretary-General WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2017 Chapter 1: Overview (John F. Helliwell, Chapter 2: The Social Foundations of World Richard Layard, and Jeffrey D. Sachs) Happiness (John F. Helliwell, Haifang Huang, The first World Happiness Report was published and Shun Wang) in April, 2012, in support of the UN High Level This report gives special attention to the social Meeting on happiness and well-being. Since foundations of happiness for individuals and then we have come a long way. Happiness is nations. The chapter starts with global and increasingly considered the proper measure regional charts showing the distribution of of social progress and the goal of public policy. answers, from roughly 3000 respondents in In June 2016, the OECD committed itself “to each of more than 150 countries, to a question redefine the growth narrative to put people’s asking them to evaluate their current lives on a well-being at the centre of governments’ ladder where 0 represents the worst possible life efforts”.1 In a recent speech, the head of the UN and 10 the best possible. When the global Development Program (UNDP) spoke against population is split into ten geographic regions, what she called the “tyranny of GDP”, arguing the resulting distributions vary greatly in both that what matters is the quality of growth.“ shape and average values. Average levels of Paying more attention to happiness should be happiness also differ across regions and coun- part of our efforts to achieve both human and tries. A difference of four points in average life sustainable development” she said. evaluations, on a scale that runs from 0 to 10, separates the ten happiest countries from the In February 2017, the United Arab Emirates ten unhappiest countries. held a full-day World Happiness meeting, as part of the World Government Summit. Now Inter- Although the top ten countries remain the same national Day of Happines, March 20th, provides as last year, there has been some shuffling of a focal point for events spreading the influence places. Most notably, Norway has jumped into of global happiness research. The launch of this first position, followed closely by Denmark, report at the United Nations on International Iceland and Switzerland. These four countries Day of Happines is to be preceded by a World are clustered so tightly that the differences Happiness Summit in Miami, and followed among them are not statistically significant, by a three-day meeting on happiness research even with samples averaging 3,000 underlying and policy at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. the averages. Three-quarters of the differences Interest, data, and research continue to build in among countries, and also among regions, are a mutually supporting way. accounted for by differences in six key variables, each of which digs into a different aspect of life. This is the fifth World Happiness Report. Thanks These six factors are GDP per capita, healthy to generous long-term support from the Ernesto years of life expectancy, social support (as Illy Foundation, we are now able to combine measured by having someone to count on in the timeliness of an annual report with adequate times of trouble), trust (as measured by a preparation time by looking two or three years perceived absence of corruption in government ahead when choosing important topics for and business), perceived freedom to make life detailed research and invited special chapters. decisions, and generosity (as measured by recent 3 Our next report for 2018 will focus on the issue donations). The top ten countries rank highly on of migration. all six of these factors. In the remainder of this introduction, we high- International differences in positive and light the main contributions of each chapter in negative emotions (affect) are much less fully this report. explained by these six factors. When affect measures are used as additional elements in results reflect the different scope of the two the explanation of life evaluations, only positive measures. GDP relates to the economic side of emotions contribute significantly, appearing to life, and to just one dimension—the output of provide an important channel for the effects of goods and services. Subjective well-being, in both perceived freedom and social support. contrast, is a comprehensive measure of individual well-being, taking account of the variety of Analysis of changes in life evaluations from economic and noneconomic concerns and 2005-2007 to 2014-2016 continue to show big aspirations that determine people’s well-being. international differences in the dynamics of GDP alone cannot account for the enormous happiness, with both the major gainers and the structural changes that have affected people’s major losers spread among several regions. lives in China. Subjective well-being, in contrast, captures the increased anxiety and new concerns that emerge from growing dependence on the The main innovation in the World Happiness labor market. The data show a marked decline in Report 2017 is our focus on the role of social subjective well-being from 1990 to about 2005, factors in supporting happiness. Even beyond and a substantial recovery since then. The chapter the effects likely to flow through better health shows that unemployment and changes in the and higher incomes, we calculate that bringing social safety nets play key roles in explaining both the social foundations from the lowest levels the post-1990 fall and the subsequent recovery. up to world average levels in 2014-2016 would increase life evaluations by almost two points (1.97). These social foundations effects are Chapter 4: ‘Waiting for Happiness’ in Africa together larger than those calculated to follow (Valerie Møller, Benjamin J. Roberts, Habib from the combined effects of bottom to average Tiliouine, and Jay Loschky) improvements in both GDP per capita and This chapter explores the reasons why African healthy life expectancy. The effect from the countries generally lag behind the rest of the increase in the numbers of people having world in their evaluations of life. It takes as its someone to count on in times of trouble is by starting point the aspirations expressed by the itself equal to the happiness effects from the Nigerian respondents in the 1960s Cantril study 16-fold increase in average per capita annual as they were about to embark on their first incomes required to shift the three poorest experience of freedom from colonialism. Back countries up to the world average (from about then, Nigerians stated then that many changes, $600 to about $10,000). not just a few, were needed to improve their lives and those of their families. Fifty years on, Chapter 3: Growth and Happiness in China, judging by the social indicators presented in this 1990-2015 (Richard A. Easterlin, Fei Wang, chapter, people in many African countries are and Shun Wang) still waiting for the changes needed to improve their lives and to make them happy. In short, While Subjective well-being (SWB) is receiving African people’s expectations that they and their increasing attention as an alternative or comple- countries would flourish under self-rule and ment to GDP as a measure of well-being. There 4 democracy appear not yet to have been met. could hardly be a better test case than China for comparing the two measures. GDP in China has multiplied over five-fold over the past quarter Africa’s lower levels of happiness compared to century, subjective well-being over the same other countries in the world, therefore, might period fell for 15 years before starting a recovery be attributed to disappointment with different process. Current levels are still, on average, less aspects of development under democracy. than a quarter of a century ago. These disparate Although most citizens still believe that democracy WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT 2017 is the best political system, they are critical of would come from the elimination of depression governance in their countries. Despite significant and anxiety disorders, which are the main form improvement in meeting basic needs according to of mental illness. the Afrobarometer index of ‘lived poverty’, popula- tion pressure may have stymied infrastructure and The chapter then uses British cohort data to ask youth development. which factors in child development best predict whether the resulting adult will have a satisfying Although most countries in the world project life, and finds that academic qualifications are a that life circumstances will improve in future, worse predictor than the emotional health and Africa’s optimism may be exceptional.