World Happiness Index

The World Happiness Report is an indicator that measures happiness throughout the world based on people's perceptions of their own lives and their happiness. For the fifth time running, Finland has been named the happiest nation in the world. The 2023 edition introduces the Globe Happiness Reflect, a survey-based evaluation tool that assesses life assessments in over 150 nations. The report underscores the increase in community solidarity and charitable work, which gives optimism despite the pandemic's distress and hardship. The yearly publication, which ranks countries based on their levels of happiness, is released on March 20, International Day of Happiness.

The World Happiness Report is a global initiative involving Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the World Health Organization (WHO). It aims to highlight the importance of happiness and well-being as government policy criteria. The report uses life evaluations from the Gallup World Poll to create annual happiness rankings, based on the Cantril Ladder question. Over a three-year period, nationally representative samples form the basis of the rankings.The report uses data on six variables and their associations with life evaluations to explain variation across countries, including GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity, and corruption. The rankings are determined by people's evaluations of their lives, specifically how they respond to the Cantril ladder life-evaluation question, rather than any indicator of these variables. Bhutan, the sponsor of Resolution 65/309, "Happiness: Towards a holistic approach to development," which asked national governments to prioritize happiness and well-being in deciding social and economic growth, is credited with sparking the growing interest in happiness around the world with this study.

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network, in collaboration with the UN, publishes the World Happiness Report, which ranks nations according to how happy their citizens believe they are. On March 20, World Happiness Day, the most recent Report was issued. India is now at 126th place in the global happiness rankings for 2023. India was ranked 136th in 2022 and 139th in the 2021 report.

It differs from the Human Development Report (HDR), which focuses on health, knowledge, and standard of living. The report identifies critical factors influencing well-being and life assessment across nations and gauges happiness through opinion surveys. Every variable receives an annual measurement and a population-based weighted average score.

The Sustainable Development Network (SDSN) is an NGO setup by the United Nations. It has been advocating for sustainable development solutions, such as the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals, since 2012. The network's objectives are to combine approaches to economic, social, and environmental concerns and to accelerate collaborative learning. It collaborates closely with the commercial sector, civil society, international finance organizations, and UN agencies. The group wants to include leaders in the network's development from a variety of backgrounds and geographical areas. Paris, Delhi, and New York are the locations of SDSN's offices.

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations considers six important elements in order to rank the happiest countries in the world and assess the level of happiness in each nation. The subsequent parameters are looked at:

• Dystopia: The term "dystopia" refers to living in a post-apocalyptic environment, experiencing dictatorship, or being the victim of injustice.
• Views of Corruption: Citizens' perceptions of corruption and how they affect their general well-being are the subject of this study.
• Generosity: Shows how kindness and empathy amongst people can reflect human connection.
• Freedom to Make Life Decisions: Examines how much freedom individuals have to choose their paths in life without fear of negative social consequences.
• The expectation of a healthy life free from the weight of serious illnesses or health problems is known as "healthy life expectancy."
• Social support is a metric used to assess how much assistance a nation's citizens provide and receive from one another.
• GDP, or gross domestic product, is calculated by dividing a country's GDP by its population. This number has a big impact on financial stability and poverty.

• Top Performers:
  • For the sixth year running, Finland has emerged as the happiest nation in the world. Nordic nations, including Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden, accounted for the majority of the top ranks, with the exception of Israel, which comes in at number four on the index.
• Worst Performers:
  • Afghanistan under Taliban administration is the unhappiest nation; it comes in last on the index, followed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, and Lebanon.
  • The humanitarian disaster in war-torn Afghanistan, which has been ranked last on the table since 2020, has gotten worse since the Taliban regime came to power in 2021 as a result of the US-led military withdrawal.
• India & its neighbors:
  • India is now ranked 126th in the World Happiness Report, up from 136th in 2022; nevertheless, it still ranks significantly lower than its neighbors, like Pakistan (108), China (74) and Sri Lanka (63).
• Rising resilience around the world:
  • According to the SDSN research, resilience increased globally in a "remarkable" way between 2020 and 2022. The Covid-19 pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine were two major occurrences that affected the entire world during this time.
  • The paper claims that during this crisis, people all across the world developed closer social ties and grew more charitable.
  • According to data, "benevolent acts" increased globally in 2022 by 25% over the pre-pandemic levels.

India's ranking increased by three positions, going from 139th in the 2021 report to 136th in the 2022 edition and finally to 126th in the 2023 report. According to the Happiness Report, over the last ten years, people's evaluations of their quality of life have decreased in several nations, including India. These assessments range from 0 to 10.

Causes of India's poor performance” India's economy may be among the fastest-growing in the world, but its citizens are among the least content. Numerous variables contribute to the unhappiness of the nation, including:

• Urban congestion and rapid urbanization
• Rising rates of unemployment and declining income
• Unfavorable opinions on corruption
• rising expenses for healthcare
• worries regarding the safety of women
• Pollution of the environment
• declining state of mental health

The correlation among happiness, legal frameworks, and policies of government is significant because it has been observed in different countries. It has become clear that happiness levels are not always higher in nations with bigger GDPs and per capita incomes. It has also been shown that happiness and the rule of law are related.

The improvement of people's happiness has now become a wider emphasis of public policy. This has led to the creation of a new story that examines the relationship between happiness, government, and the law. This change in perspective highlights how crucial it is to comprehend and promote well-being via governance and legal frameworks.

Several important issues have been brought to light by consistent findings from the World Happiness Reports (WHRs):

• Even among the wealthiest, there is a general disapproval of government and law enforcement.
• Subjective well-being scores are often poor.
• Poor results are frequently reflected in mental health indicators.

Happiness has become an increasingly important indicator for governments and businesses to track over time. Finding the key variables that affect well-being is the report's main goal. This information is meant to assist countries in developing policies meant to foster more contented communities.

Happiness is now closely linked to governance and a major objective of public policy. Happy nations are not always those with the highest GDP and per capita income, since happiness is correlated with the presence of the rule of law. The significance of reduced inequality and public institution confidence has been emphasized by COVID-19. COVID-19 mortality has decreased in nations where governmental institutions are more trusted. Happiness metrics are becoming more and more integrated into new indicators developed by institutions, scholars, and governments. Governments can make better policies with the aid of the science of happiness.