Canada among the happiest countries in the world – The Globe and Mail

Canada is the fifth-happiest country in the world, according to a global study on the social and economic well-being of nations.It finds the world has, broadly speaking, become a “little happier” in the past three decades, as living standards have risen. One exception is the United States, where life satisfaction has not improved.

The happiest countries are all in Northern Europe – Denmark, Norway, Finland and the Netherlands. The least happy countries are all poor countries in sub-Saharan Africa – Togo, Benin, Central African Republic and Sierra Leone.

But wealth alone doesn’t make people happy. Rather, the first-ever World Happiness Report finds other key factors at play, too: political freedom, strong social networks and an absence of corruption are “together more important than income in explaining well-being differences between the top and bottom countries.”

At the individual level, “good mental and physical health, someone to count on, job security and stable families are crucial,” said the 155-page paper, co-edited by University of British Columbia economics professor John Helliwell.

via Canada among the happiest countries in the world – The Globe and Mail.

Strange Random Happiness Quote:

“Now and then it’s good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy.”
― Guillaume Apollinaire

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