Ben Page e il concetto di Felicità

Ben Page

Chief Executive

Ipsos UK

[email protected]

Our Happiness

The rise of happiness

“Well being can’t be measured by money or traded in markets. It’s about the beauty of our surroundings, the quality of our culture, and above all, the strength of our relationships. Improving our society’s sense of well-being is, I believe, the central political challenge of our lives.”

Even politicians are in on the act

David Cameron, May 2006

86%93% 93% 93% 92% 92% 89% 88% 88% 88% 86% 86% 85% 85% 85% 85% 84% 84% 83% 83% 81% 78% 77% 74%

14%8% 7% 8% 8% 8% 9% 9% 9% 10% 11% 12% 12% 12% 14% 15% 15% 15% 15% 15% 16% 16% 17% 17% 19% 22% 23% 26%

90%91%91%91%

EU27

Greec

eIta

ly

Portu

gal

Spain

Malt

a

Cypru

s

Luxe

mbo

urg

Hungar

y

Irelan

d

Estonia

Belgium

Austri

a

Slovenia

Franc

e

Lithu

ania

Bulgar

ia

Denmar

k

Sweden UK

Germ

any

Finlan

d

Nether

lands

Romania

Poland

Czech

Rep

ublic

Latvi

a

Slovakia

Agree Disagree

… the public agree

Base: 25,103 European adults

“Policies should put less emphasis on individual consumption, and more emphasis on other aspects of the quality of life.”

The economy, stupid?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Under 30k 30k to under$75

$75k to under$100k

$100k andover

Per

cen

t V

ery

Hap

py

by

Fam

ily

Inco

me

Does Money Buy Happiness in America?

Source: Are WE Happy Yet? PewResearchCenter, Feb 2006

8

14

16

19

AB

C1

C2

DE

Base: 2013 British adults

Similarly poorer people are more miserable in the UK

Taking all things together, would you say in general you are…

% Unhappy/ Very unhappy

But money isn’t everything…

6.8

7

7.2

7.4

7.6

7.8

8

1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990

Base: US National SurveysYear

Index score ‘Very

happy’

Source: GDP from Statistical Abstract of the United States, 1995, ‘very happy’ scores from various surveys, courtesy of Ed Diener

GDP per capita

Index ‘very happy’

$20,000

Americans – GDP and Happiness……

R2 = 0.4162

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

-37 -27 -17 -7 3 13 23 33 43 53 63 73 83

Money and Happiness

National Happiness LevelSource: World Values Study

Average National Income Level $

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

1971 1981 1991 2002

GDP

Happiness

Money only buys so much happiness….

What do the British think?

What would make you happier?

3735

3023

2221

1917

1615

1312

65

More time with familyEarning double what I do now

Q Which four or five of the following things do you think would make you happier?

More time with friends

More travelling

More time for leisure/sportBetter community spirit

Having a happy marriage

More contact with nature

Moving abroad

Learning new skills

Better health

Better housing

Moving jobs

More time to think/be alone

Base: 2,015 interviewed face to face in home in GB aged 15 +, 20-25 Sept 2007

What would make you happiest?

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

15-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65-74 75+

Age

%

Loads more money Better Health

More time with my family

More/better possessions


What would make you happiest?

10

20

30

40

50

AB C1 C2 DE

Social Class

%

Doubled incomeMore time

with my family

More access to nature

Better housing


Money does matter to a very large proportion of the population’s happiness…

What else works?

Leisure and relationships……

“If you want to be happy for a few hours, get drunk. If you want to be happy for a few years, get a wife. If you want to be happy forever, get a garden”

Traditional

77%

74%

73%

72%

71%

74%

Leisure and relationships

At least once a week

At least once a month

Several times a

year

Once a year or

less

Never/almost never

Total

Satisfaction by frequency of gardening

76%

74%73%

72%

70%

73%

Do some sport……..

At least once a week

At least once a month

Several times a

year

Once a year or

less

Never/almost never

Total

Life satisfaction by regularity of walking, swimming or playing sport

33%31%

25%

16%

Get Married

Married Co-habiting

Single Divorced/separated

% very happy


Very Happy by Marital Status

0

10

20

30

40

50

76 81 86 91 96 2001 2006

Year

%

Married

Never Married

35%

30%28%

23%

Get Qualified

Degree or PHd

A Levels GSCE None

% very happy


26%28%

31%35%

39%

47%

Go to church

Never Nearly weekly

Monthly +

Several times a

year

Several times

weekly

Weekly

-3

-5

-2

-4

31

26

29

30

15-34

35-54

55-74

75+

Base: 2013 British adults

Avoid middle age and teenagers

Taking all things together, would you say in general you are…

% Unhappy/ Very unhappy % Very Happy

4647484950515253545556

Marriedwithoutchildren

Childbearing

Pre-schoolchildren,oldest 5

Schoolchildren,

oldest 5-12

Teenagers,oldest 12-

16

First childgone to

last leavingat home

Empty nestto

retirement

Empty nextto death of

firstspouse

Study 1 Study 2 Study 3 Study 4

The terror of teenagers!

%

The problems of adaption, estimation bias and social comparison

We can learn from this!

“The great source of both the misery and disorders of human life seems to rise from over-rating the difference between one permanent situation and another”

–Adam Smith, 1759

Lucas, Clark, Georgellis, and Diener (2003). N ~24,000

Lif

e S

ati

sfa

cti

on

Happiness and getting married…….

Things are never as good or as bad as we think they will be...

Highest Life ExpectancyAnd disability free yearsLowest Life Expectancy

And disability free years

Life expectancy disparityis 16 years

Die

ner

et. a

l. 20

04

Happiness and getting divorced/widowed…….

Social Justice, inequality and happiness

“A house may be large or small; as long as the surrounding houses are equally small it satisfies all social demands for a dwelling. But if a palace arises beside the little house, the little house shrinks to a hovel… [and]… the dweller will feel more and more uncomfortable, dissatisfied and cramped within its four walls.”

(Marx, 1847)

R2 = 0.4116

7.5

12.5

17.5

22.5

27.5

3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0

Japan

France

Belgium

GermanySpain

Netherlands

USA

New Zealand

Italy

Canada

UKAustralia

Singapore

Inequality of income and prevalence of emotional distress in English-speaking nations, Western Europe and Japan

Sources: Emotional distress prevalences: for New Zealand, Oakley-Browne et al. (2006); for all other nations, Demyttenaere et al. (2004). Income inequality ratios are from UNDP (2003).

Income inequality, ratio of top 20% to bottom 20% of incomes

Pre

vale

nce

of a

ny

em

otio

nal

dis

tre

ss (

%)

Some things that turn out to increase happiness

Get married

Become richer than your peer group, but stay friends with them to beat the problem of social comparison

As you earn more, try to constrain the growth in your spending to beat the problem of adaption

Find religion, and attend meetings at least monthly, if not weekly

Find some extra leisure time and spend more time with friends and family

Get a degree

Visit your physician for a health test – the healthier, the happier

Live to a ripe old age – being middle aged is just depressing

[email protected]

Ben Page e il concetto di Felicità

Education

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