Why the U.S. is So Low in World Happiness Ratings

Let’s take a moment to examine the overall position of the United States to the rest of the world, not in the ways in which we are perhaps more accustomed, but rather in a way that is perhaps a little more unique. Let’s take a look at the United States and its overall happiness ranking, and how it lines up with the rest of the nation.

Unfortunately, the U.S. does not have the best world happiness ranking. In fact, the U.S. does not even make the top ten list. It never has in the several years that the Happiness Research Institute has been examining world happiness. As one can imagine, drug and alcohol abuse has absolutely played a part here, but that is not all that has contributed to the fact that the U.S. carries a pretty low ranking, all things considered.

Expert Commentary and Study Results on Global Happiness Ratings

The Happiness Research Institute in Denmark has put together global happiness ratings every year for several years now. This has been very helpful, as it has given us an entirely different index in which to examine the growth and forward advancement of each individual country. According to the 2017 report results:“Finland has vaulted from fifth place to the top of the rankings this year. The other three Nordic countries (plus Switzerland) have almost interchangeable scores.

”Multiple experts contributed and weighed in on these “happiness measurements.” According to Meik Wiking, one of the study authors and a representative of the Happiness Research Institute: “That Finland is the top scorer is remarkable. GDP per capita in Finland is lower than its neighboring Nordic countries and is much lower than that of the U.S. The Finns are good at converting wealth into wellbeing. In the Nordic countries in general, we pay some of the highest taxes in the world, but there is wide public support for that because people see them as investments in quality of life for all. Free healthcare and university education go a long way when it comes to happiness. In the Nordic countries, Bernie Sanders is not viewed as progressive—he is just common sense.”

American experts have also weighed in on the happiness issue, attempting to offer explanations as to why the United States does not rate higher on the charts. According to Jeffrey Sachs, the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University in New York:

“America’s subjective well-being is being systematically undermined by three interrelated epidemic diseases, notably obesity, substance abuse (especially opioid addiction) and depression…”

“America’s subjective well-being is being systematically undermined by three interrelated epidemic diseases, notably obesity, substance abuse (especially opioid addiction) and depression. America’s declining happiness is a social crisis, not an economic crisis. This American social crisis is widely noted, but it has not translated into public policy.”

Jeffrey Sachs went on to say that: “Almost all of the policy discourse in Washington D.C. centers on naive attempts to raise the economic growth rate as if a higher growth rate would somehow heal the deepening divisions and angst in American society. This kind of growth-only agenda is doubly wrong-headed.”

The report from the Happiness Research Institute did not only focus on the Nordic countries and the United States. In fact, the study explored every, single country in the world. The study report highlighted, for example, what made Latin America unique and still happier than the U.S.:

“Latin America is renowned for corruption, high violence, and crime rates, unequal distribution of income and widespread poverty, yet has consistently scored relatively highly in the happiness report. This is attributed to the abundance of family warmth and other supportive social relationships frequently sidelined in favor of an emphasis on income measures in the development discourse.”

Another expert, John Helliwell, a University of British Columbia economist, also weighed in on the most recent year’s research and discoveries. According to Helliwell: “The most striking finding is the extent to which happiness of immigrants matches the locally born population. The happiest countries in the world also have the happiest immigrants in the world. It’s the human things that matter. If the riches make it harder to have a frequent and trustworthy relationship between people, is it worth it? The material can stand in the way of the human.”

Finally, the report concluded by discussing key approaches that countries can take to increase their happiness ranking. The report's recommendations for the U.S. were:

“Social support networks in the U.S. have weakened over time, perceptions of corruption in government and business have risen over time, and confidence in public institutions has waned. To do this successfully requires high levels of mutual trust, shared purpose, generosity and good governance, all factors that help to keep Norway and other top countries where they are in the happiness rankings.”

The Top, and Bottom, Ten Countries for Happiness

To give some introspection on just where the happiness in this world goes to and where it stays away from, consider first the top ten, happiest countries in the world, then consider the most unhappy countries in the world. The bracketed numbers following each country name indicate where its ranking was in 2016. The current positioning of the countries shows how each country ranked for 2017:

1. Finland (5)
2. Norway (1)
3. Denmark (2)
4. Iceland (3)
5. Switzerland (4)
6. Netherlands (6)
7. Canada (7)
8. New Zealand (8)
9. Sweden (10)
10. Australia (9)

And here are the top ten unhappiest countries in the world, with number ten being the least happiest. The bracketed numbers give each country’s position as compared to all other countries for the 2017 report.

1. Malawi (136)
2. Haiti (145)
3. Liberia (148)
4. Syria (152)
5. Rwanda (151)
6. Yemen (146)
7. Tanzania (153)
8. South Sudan (147)
9. Central African Republic (155)
10. Burundi (154)

It varies every year, but the United States came in on the first ranking ever done by the Happiness Research Institute at the eleventh place, and since then has fallen back into the mid-twenties and mid-thirties.

Reduce Drug Abuse, Increase Happiness

It goes without saying that a reduction in an area’s substance abuse issue would result in an increase in that area’s overall happiness. This has to be what we shoot for in the United States. Much was discussed and noted from top experts in the above paragraphs, but it goes without saying that reducing drug abuse would have an instant and extremely rewarding effect on increasing happiness in the United States.

There are many factors and many actions we need to take to start reducing the drug and alcohol addiction problem that our nation is afflicted with. Prevention through education and increased law enforcement activity comes to mind, as does more community action and stronger efforts to really stop drug abuse from cropping up, to begin with. In addition to that, while twenty-five million Americans are addicted to drugs and alcohol, only roughly ten percent of them are ever being given the opportunities to experience drug and alcohol addiction treatment. We need to increase our country's addiction treatment efforts considerably.

All of these actions, taken in tandem and combined, should result in a gradual increase in happiness rankings amongst the American people.

Sources:

• https://www.menshealth.com/health/a19446540/world-happiness-report-us-health/
• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/03/14/perhaps-tired-of-winning-the-united-states-falls-in-world-happiness-rankings-again/?utm_term=.82c318e71368
• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/14/finland-happiest-country-world-un-report