Broadly speaking, the world's poorest countries have the lowest happiness scores, and the richest report being the most happy.
Richer people tend to say they are happier than poorer people; richer countries tend to have higher average happiness levels; and across time, most countries that have experienced sustained economic growth have seen increasing happiness levels.
Rich people are happier than poorer people on average, and richer countries are happier than poorer countries. And yet growing national wealth is not always accompanied by growing national happiness. This is the famous Easterlin Paradox, named after economist Richard Easterlin, who first observed a puzzling phenomenon.
The research between salary and happiness suggests similar insights. Even those on the Forbes 100 wealthiest were only slightly happier than the average Americans, according to a study by Ed Diener of the University of Illinois.
Here's some news to pop a smile on your dial. Australia's long been referred to as 'the lucky country' and now we can start saying we're one of the happiest countries in the world, too. The United Nation's 2023 World Happiness Index has just been released, and Australia has come in at a very cheery 12th position.
According to the annual World Happiness Report, Afghanistan has been ranked as the saddest country in the world. For the sixth year in a row, Finland has been named the happiest country in the report, which ranks global happiness in more than 150 countries around the world.
You can have depression regardless of how much money you have or make. Although money makes some aspects of life easier, there are other factors that play into mental health and well-being. The wealthy can get depressed the same way people living in poverty can experience depression.
And, interestingly, income may not have as much bearing on that at all. Money, it seems, can't buy everything. In fact, new research shows that richer and poorer people are generally as happy as each other. Where they differ is in their level of sadness: higher-income individuals are markedly less sad on a daily basis.
Using this measure another global study, this time measuring over 40,000 people in 67 countries, found that those who perceived themselves to be lower on the ladder scale gave more in a hypothetical donation task. So lower subjective wealth predicted greater generosity.
The catch-up effect is a theory that all economies will eventually converge in terms of per capita income, due to the observation that underdeveloped economies tend to grow more rapidly than wealthier economies. In other words, the less wealthy economies will literally "catch-up" to the more robust economies.
However, the mean estimates of depression prevalence for countries grouped according to economic development were similar, ranging from 6.0% in low-income countries to 7.6% in upper–middle-income countries, with some possible outliers in each group (Fig. 1).
Wealth and Happiness
On several occasions, research has shown that people living in poverty report lower life satisfaction, lower subjective well-being and lower levels of positive emotion. Even the World Happiness Index ranks the high-income countries as the happiest.
Although the mass media has convinced many Americans that wealth leads to happiness, that’s not always the case. Money can certainly help you achieve your goals, provide for your future, and make life more enjoyable, but merely having the stuff doesn’t guarantee fulfillment.
The report shows that while the richest 1 percent captured 54 percent of new global wealth over the past decade, this has accelerated to 63 percent in the past two years. $42 trillion of new wealth was created between December 2019 and December 2021.
It is possible to be rich and happy. Don't believe the lie that rich people are miserable. Yes, there are some that are indeed miserable. But there are lots of others that are happy.
In addition to those well-documented costs, it turns out that the poor not only experience more stress than the rich on a daily basis, but it is also more likely to be “bad” stress, which can have long-term effects on the ability to plan for and invest in the future.
Rich people also have stress and face difficulties. But their situations are very different. Rich people's stress is often linked to career advancement. It is short-term stress that helps lead them to a long-term goal.
The highest average American net worth belongs to those in the age group of 55 to 64 at $1,175,900. Americans 65 to 74 years old have the second highest average net worth at $1,217,700 . The oldest age group of 75 and older have an average net worth of $977,600.
Women are more likely to have depression than men. An estimated 3.8% of the population experience depression, including 5% of adults (4% among men and 6% among women), and 5.7% of adults older than 60 years.
According to CNN, children who are from wealthy families are more likely to suffer from drug and alcohol use, depression and anxiety. They are far more likely to suffer these issues than the national average. They also have different stressors like making sure they have access t money and pressures to succeed in life.
These are some common ways money can affect your mental health: Certain situations might trigger feelings of anxiety and panic, like opening envelopes or attending a benefits assessment. Worrying about money can lead to sleep problems. You might not be able to afford the things you need to stay well.
War-torn Afghanistan and Lebanon remain the two unhappiest countries in the survey, with average life evaluations more than five points lower (on a scale running from 0 to 10) than in the ten happiest countries.
Finland is the No. 1 happiest country in the world for the sixth year in a row. Finland has been the happiest country in the world since 2016. The World Happiness Report released its annual ranking of the happiest countries in the world and for the sixth year in a row Finland has landed in the top spot.
Afghanistan is the world's least happy country, with citizens having reported extremely low levels of life satisfaction. Since the Taliban takeover, life has become objectively worse for Afghans, particularly women. There is a lot of conflict in the region.