UNITED NATIONS, April 3 (UPI) -- The World Happiness Report, an effort to measure social and economic well-being worldwide, found those living in Denmark were the happiest.
John Helliwell, Richard Layard and Jeffrey Sachs, the report editors who presented their findings to the United Nations, said in poor countries, when incomes rise from very low levels, human well-being improves and even small gains in a household's income can result in a child's survival, the end of hunger pangs, improved nutrition, better learning opportunities, safe childbirth, and prospects for ongoing improvements and opportunities.
However, higher average incomes do not necessarily improve average well-being, with the United States being a clear case in point. U.S. gross domestic product per capita rose by a factor of three since 1960, while measures of average happiness have remained essentially unchanged over the half-century.
The editors used data from the Gallup World Poll, the World Values Survey, the European Values Survey and the European Social Survey.
The report found after Denmark the happiest countries were: Finland, Norway, the Netherlands, Canada, Switzerland, Sweden, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland.
The United States ranked 11th.
"There are reasons enough to believe that we need to re-think the economic sources of well-being, more so even in the rich countries than in the poor ones. High-income countries have largely ended the scourges of
poverty, hunger, and disease. Poor countries rightly yearn to do so," the report said. "But after the end of poverty, what comes next?"
