Where Does The UK Rank In Happiness? This Report Paints A Grim Picture
This report is the world's foremost publication on global wellbeing and how to improve it. The researchers behind the report combined wellbeing data from over 140 countries, and provides essential insights into how we can create more happiness within our communitiies and nations.
To explain their ranking, the researchers say: 'Our global happiness ranking is based on a single question from the Gallup World Poll, derived from the Cantril Self-Anchoring Striving Scale (Cantril Ladder):
'Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top.
'The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?'
The report found that, despite the UK being the sixth richest nation in the world, we have fallen to 23rd place in global rankings. The US has also fallen to its lowest position, now sitting at 24th place.
Meanwhile, Finland is reportedly the happiest place in the world for the eighth year in a row.
Providing more context to their findings, the researchers say: 'Country rankings are based on a three-year average of each population's average assessment of their quality of life.
'Interdisciplinary experts from economics, psychology, sociology and beyond then seek to explain the variations across countries and over time using factors such as GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on, a sense of freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption.'
Those factors explain the differences across nations, but the rankings themselves are actually based solely on answers people have given when asked to rank their own lives.
Quite a sorry tale for the UK.
While this news isn't exactly uplifting, the overall findings from the researchers were surprisingly wholesome and give us attainable goals for rebuilding, as well as finding joy and comfort where we can.
Lara B. Aknin, professor of social psychology at Simon Fraser University, and an editor of the World Happiness Report, says: 'Human happiness is driven by our relationships with others. Investing in positive social connections and engaging in benevolent actions are both matched by greater happiness.'
Jeffrey D. Sachs, president of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University and a founding editor of the World Happiness Report, adds: 'The findings in this year's World Happiness Report reconfirm a fundamental truth: happiness is rooted in trust, kindness, and social connection.
'It is up to us as virtuous individuals and citizens to translate this vital truth into positive action, thereby fostering peace, civility, and wellbeing in communities worldwide.'
Let's hope we can improve over the next 12 months.
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USA Today
02-07-2025
- USA Today
U.S. drops in global happiness rankings, and political polarization is partly to blame
The United States isn't feeling too happy lately. Since 2012, the mood in the United States has been on the decline, sliding from 11th to 24th in the global rankings, according to Gallup's 2025 World Happiness Report. Finland holds the top spot for the eighth consecutive year. Denmark, Iceland, Sweden and the Netherlands round out the top five happiest countries. Based on a population's average evaluation of their quality of life from 2022 to 2024, this year's study data ranks 147 nations according to their happiness levels. The rankings are primarily based on data from the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford and Gallup World Poll, which asks respondents to rate their present level of happiness. Which countries are happy enough to make into the Top 20? As the United States slumped to 24th, Mexico and Costa Rico hopped into the top 10 for the first time since the report's introduction in 2012. Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. U.S. drops in World Happiness Report According to the study, "the rise in political polarization and votes against 'the system'" was a factor that caused the United States and other European nations to fall in the rankings. "We show that the countrywide evolution of happiness and trust is highly associated with the rise in the likelihood of voting for anti-system parties in Western Europe and the United States," according to the authors' report. Individual life evaluations are especially poor in nations such as Afghanistan, which ranks last in overall happiness. Afghanistan's happiness score in the 2025 report was 1.36 out of 10. Afghanistan has been at the bottom of the World Happiness Report for six consecutive years. How the U.S. compare on the happiness scale The report also found that as the number of single-person households have grown in the past two decades, the number of people eating alone has increased 53%, which can lead to more loneliness. According to the survey, eating with others is strongly associated with well-being. What increases happiness in countries? Several factors are linked to overall well-being, from meal-sharing to income and employment status, according to the report. The report says households of four to five people typically enjoy the highest happiness levels in Mexico and Europe, though many people in Europe live on their own. Researchers also suggest social connections are vital for young adults to avoid the toxic effects of stress. The report suggests that countries where acts of generosity and kindness are frequent often lead to fewer despair-related deaths such as suicides or drug overdoses. CONTRIBUTING Anthony Robeldo
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Yahoo
I was brainwashed into wearing a hijab. But Britain mustn't introduce a burka ban
I can still recall the first tentative day that I stepped outside my home not wearing my usual hijab but with my own pixie-cut hair on display and a breeze on my ears – a completely new feeling to was six years ago when I was 31 and studying for a master's degree in philosophy at the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, Canada. At the time I was married with a three-year-old son. I had worn the hijab since the age of nine, and had always felt it was part of the package of being a Muslim, but in recent years I had begun to have doubts. Islam has a set of rules which cover various aspects of Muslim life, from religious practices to personal matters. I had always been curious about these laws, and had previously completed a master's degree in Islamic studies. But the more I learnt the more I felt that the methodology of Islamic jurisprudence (the theory and philosophy of its rules) was problematic for women. I couldn't help seeing the laws, including wearing mandatory hijab, as essentially misogynistic. Wearing a hijab was also not common in Vancouver, which made me stand out considerably. For the first time I experienced what it truly meant to be a visible minority and it took a heavy toll on my mental health. One day, my son kept refusing to take my hand as we boarded the bus. The tired driver, concerned about safety, snapped at me that I needed parenting advice. I was deeply upset, but then found myself wondering if such a minor incident would have affected me so deeply if I hadn't been wearing a hijab? I questioned myself. As much as I love Islamic spirituality, did I really want to carry its 'flag' when I no longer believed that flag represented something good?It was a few days later that I wrote a post on social media, relaying this incident to my friends and colleagues and explaining that while I was still explicitly Muslim, I would no longer wear the hijab. The next day, when I walked into the university, I had mixed emotions of uncertainty, excitement and freedom. There were a few awkward encounters with colleagues who didn't recognise me. But most people were understanding, and I have not worn the hijab since. The decision was a key moment for my Muslim identity. For it seems being a Muslim woman today is tiresomely linked to wearing a hijab or burka. There is always a great debate. Should you cover your hair? Your face? Are these items symbols of oppression or merely an expression of faith? Oh, and we know how these topics fire up the public imagination. Sparks flew just recently in the House of Commons when Sarah Pochin, the Reform UK MP for Runcorn and Helsby, called on Sir Keir Starmer to 'ban the burka'.'Will he,' she asked from the back benches. 'In the interest of public safety, follow the lead of France, Belgium, Denmark and others and ban the burka?' Thankfully, the question got rebuffed by both the Prime Minister and Pochin's Reform UK colleagues, who said it was not their policy. But it still left me – now a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Manchester – feeling sad and threatened. I worried I might have been wrong in my perception of Britain as a liberal and tolerant place for different religions. Mainly what I struggle with, however – whenever the issue flares up in Parliament – is how on earth politicians think they can prescribe to women how to deal with such a complex and personal issue. For in my case alone, my perception of being a Muslim has changed considerably over time – and I am only 37. I grew up in Iran's capital, Tehran, a super-crowded city that was beautiful to me in many ways. I was surrounded by a loving, happy family, who were religious, but me especially so. As a child, I donned the hijab (the burka isn't big in Iran), and began fasting and praying. I came to love the three elements of Islam: the spirituality, the practising, and the community. And because I was an anxious child, I found an incomparable comfort from reading passages from the Koran and common prayers, while the rituals and rules calmed my busy mind and gave me a sense of satisfaction. I also benefited from the Muslim community that was shaped around anti-imperialist political ideas in Iran. I studied a chemical engineering degree at Sharif University in Tehran, but then – like so many of my educated friends – got married at 22 and moved to London (we had an almost semi-arranged marriage and are now divorced), and it was here that I first encountered the diversity of religious life. Unlike in Iran, I began to see that being religious could go with all types of lifestyles, and it gave me a new perception of how I could live. When we moved to Vancouver in 2017 (I wanted to study in America but Trump had banned Iranians from entering the US), I still wore my hijab. But my dislike for the misogynistic essence of Islamic laws which shaped the culture of my community began to grow. Politically I was also changing. I came to see the scale of crime and deception from the Islamic Republic in Iran, and I came to detest its version of anti-imperialism and its suppression of women. I did not want to give up on my spirituality but I began to refine my version of being Muslim, starting with removing the hijab. When I moved back to London in 2020, to begin a PhD in philosophy at the London School of Economics, my own beliefs were strengthened by those I met. In the prayer room at the university, for instance, I was very pleased to find Muslims like me with no hair covering befriending women in the full burka, and bonding over their common interest in Islam's spirituality. Now – six years on since I first removed my hair covering – I feel psychologically better. I have begun to think that although I had a happy childhood, I was perhaps brainwashed in some respects and probably missed out on exploring my feminine side and having a diverse social life. Now, I have chosen a version of being Muslim that is true to me, and to some extent I think I have inspired my own friends to do the same. As for the draining debate about the burka, I believe Muslim women wear it for all sorts of reasons. They may think it is part of a package of rules which is meant to strengthen their willpower and bring about a special type of spirituality. While I may think the rule is misogynistic, it does not imply that those who observe it are misogynists. But I also understand why some find it very offensive or dangerous. It is natural, perhaps evolutionary, to want to see someone's face in order to connect. And obviously, wearing a burka highlights that the person is an immigrant, and we know many in the UK do not like immigration. 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Hopefully, however, nothing like this will happen. I have always felt there is something special about Britain – in how it treats Muslims and religions in general, and in how diverse and liberal it is in this regard. I really hope it stays that way. As told to Gwyneth Rees Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Fast Company
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- Fast Company
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