Concerns associated with World Happiness Report: Their Blindness To Our Happiness

Source: The post is based on the article “Their Blindness To Our Happiness” published in The Times of India on 4th April 2023.

Syllabus: GS – 2: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.

Relevance: About concerns associated with World Happiness Report.

News: The World Happiness Report was released recently. It has ranked India 126 out of 137 countries.

What are the key highlights of the World Happiness Report?

What are the concerns associated with World Happiness Report and India’s ranking in it?

Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s (SDSN) capacity: SDSN is a relatively small organisation, with an annual revenue of around $11 million, mainly in grants.

Defining happiness is not feasible: Happiness is a big, emotive word, just like hunger.

Note: Global Hunger Index ranked India at 107 out of 121 countries, behind North Korea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Rwanda, Nigeria and Congo.

The criteria are depended more on Gallup World Poll. The poll asks people about where they currently are in life (on a scale of 1 to 10) versus where they could best possibly be (which would be a full 10 score). If the respondent gives a low rating, then the country is considered not happy.

The main issue with this poll is that if the persons have higher aspirations, then they are considered as unhappy.

Limited polling: The poll asks the above questions to 500-2,000 people per country. So, 2,000 people’s view is used to decide the global happiness rank of a nation having 1.4 billion people.

Tilted to rich countries: The report also has factors which favour rich countries. Such as a) per capita income – favouring rich countries and assuming being richer the happier, b) charity – rich countries give more, c) Level of corruption – low in developed countries, d) social welfare benefits – Rich countries have more and e) How independently a person is making decisions – individualistic western societies will score well, and collectivist society like India will not.

Issues with Finland’s ranking: Finland is ranked as the happiest country in the world for six years in a row. However, its ranking has raised certain questions. Such as, a) The country is near the North Pole and parts of which have temperatures below -40 °C in the winter and the sun does not rise for nearly two months during parts of the year. Thus, there is a permanent dark for 50 days and 50 nights, b) Finnish people, at least as per stereotype, are silent and do not talk much.

Despite that, Finland is ranked as the happiest place on Earth.

Does not measure the required aspects: The report does not include a) Celebration of festivals, b) Depression rates around the world, c) Divorce rates, d) Time period in which old people meet their kids, e) The closeness of grandparents to grandchildren, f) The peace people feel due to their relationship with God.

Overall, the report needs some rework, especially with a focus towards developing countries like India.