Document Type

Report

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

The main innovation in the World Happiness Report 2017 is our focus on the role of social factors in supporting happiness. Even beyond the effects likely to flow through better health and higher incomes, we calculate that bringing the social foundations from the lowest levels up to world average levels in 2014-2016 would increase life evaluations by almost two points (1.97). These social foundations effects are together larger than those calculated to follow from the combined effects of bottom to average improvements in both GDP per capita and healthy life expectancy. The effect from the increase in the numbers of people having someone to count on in times of trouble is by itself equal to the happiness effects from the 16-fold increase in average per capita annual incomes required to shift the three poorest countries up to the world average (from about $600 to about $10,000)

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