World Happiness Report 2024:
According to the annual UN World Happiness Report, which was announced on Wednesday, Finland has surpassed all other nations to become the happiest nation for the seventh consecutive year.
The top rankings are still dominated by Nordic countries, with Finland closely followed by Denmark, Iceland, and Sweden.Afghanistan continued to rank lowest among the 143 nations surveyed, with persistent humanitarian challenges resulting from the Taliban’s 2020 takeover of the country.After over ten years, the US and Germany are now ranked 23rd and 24th, respectively, outside of the top 20 happiest countries.
On the other hand, Kuwait and Costa Rica have moved up into the top 20, taking the 12th and 13th positions, respectively.
Between 2006 and 2010, major shifts in happiness have been noted, with notable gains recorded in Eastern European nations such as Serbia, Bulgaria, and Latvia and notable declines in Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Jordan.
People’s self-reported assessments of their level of happiness are used to rank happiness along with other variables, including GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, charity, and corruption.
The research highlights a shift in which none of the world’s most populous nations are now among the happiest countries.
The only countries with populations over 15 million in the top 10 are Australia and the Netherlands, whereas the two countries with the largest populations in the top 20 are Canada and the United Kingdom.
The present analysis also highlights a pattern that, with the exception of North America, Australia, and New Zealand, where youth happiness has declined between 2006 and 2010, shows that younger demographics typically display higher levels of satisfaction than older age brackets.
On the other hand, happiness in central and eastern Europe has increased over the same period of time for all age groups, while happiness in Western Europe has remained constant across the generations.
The study draws attention to a concerning increase in the disparity in happiness around the world, particularly among older people and in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This trend is suggestive of differences in social support networks, healthcare, education, and money.
Where on the list is India ranked?
India remained at position 126 on the happiness rating from the previous year.Among older Indians, life satisfaction is also influenced by variables like physical health, social participation, and marital status.
Significantly, contentment with living arrangements shows up as a crucial component, indicating older Indians’ strong desire to remain in place while retaining their independence and social ties.
This study casts doubt on the idea that high-income countries are the only places where age-related contentment exists and emphasizes the significance of taking a variety of factors into account when assessing life satisfaction among older people in India.With 140 million people over 60, India has the second-largest elder population in the world, behind only China. This group is growing at a rate that is more than three times faster than the nation as a whole.
Even though this change in the population represents social and economic progress, it is nevertheless crucial to understand the variables that affect older adults’ quality of life.According to the survey, older Indian men—especially those who are married, have more education, and are in higher age groups—tend to report better levels of life satisfaction than their peers.
Lower life satisfaction is associated with older Indians’ discontent with living circumstances, perceptions of discrimination, and bad self-rated health.
The idea that age-related contentment is mainly significant in high-income countries is refuted by an intriguing trend in life satisfaction among older people in India. In India, getting older is generally linked to having a better level of life satisfaction; however, older women tend to feel less satisfied than older males.
Social support could be important because women tend to have larger social networks.
Conversely, there are different correlations between age and life happiness. Contrary to popular assumption, which holds that age-related contentment declines, certain empirical investigations indicate that age-related satisfaction actually rises as a result of experience, adaptive tactics, and improved social and emotional regulation.