2018-03-19

Comments on UN WORLD HAPPINESS REPORT

Since it was first published in 2012, the World Happiness Report demonstrated that well-being and happiness are critical indicators of a nation's economic and social development, and should be a key aim of policy.

When thinking about increasing happiness, one of the most important aspects is measurement.But Is there  a way to accurately measure people’s happiness, both within and across societies?In order to both measure and improve happiness levels, we must understand what influences these levels.

There are mainly three aspects about it.First,some of the important external factors include income, work, community and governance, and values and religion. Second,more“personal” factors include mental and physical health, family experience, education, gender, and age. Many of these factors have a two-way interaction with happiness – physical health may improve happiness, while happiness improves physical health. An analysis of all these factors strikingly shows that while absolute income is important in poor countries, in richer countries comparative income is probably the most important. Meanwhile,many other variables have a more powerful effect on happiness, including social trust, quality of work, and freedom of choice and political participation.

So in order to improve happiness levels,measures could be taken at the base of these aspects.