World Happiness Report 2019

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Sorry guys but gotta make this one short and snappy today, chiefly because we’ve got a couple of friends over for dinner and we are GROSSLY unprepared.

But that’s why UberEats exist right?

Right.

Anyway, before they come, I thought I’d share this pretty cool report I found surfing the inter-webs.

It’s the World Happiness Report 2019 which highlights which countries’ citizens are the “happiest”.

The survey, conducted by Gallup, uses a three-year rolling average of survey responses around six factors:

1. GDP per capita;
2. social support;
3. life expectancy;
4. freedom to make life choices;
5. generosity; and
6. corruption levels.

And no surprises here with the Scandinavians all well placed at the top.

Seriously, there must be something in the water – because each and every year, they rank right up there.

And if you dig into the report, the answer is actually pretty simple.

Finland (which ranked first) scores well on all factors but particularly strongly on generosity.

Almost half of Finns donate regularly to charity and almost a third said they had given up time to volunteer for a charity in the previous month.

Also, Finland (like other Scandinavian countries) has a strong social safety net combined with personal freedom and a good work-life balance. Their citizens also feel personally safe day-to-day.

They feel good about their environment, sense of community and public services as well as education.

Maybe our politicians should take note?

HA! About as much luck of that as me turning into a gourmet Thai chef… hey! That reminds me…

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