This document discusses measuring happiness and well-being through various indices and surveys. It outlines several major happiness measures used internationally and within countries to gauge subjective well-being at the national, regional, and individual level. These include Bhutan's Gross National Happiness Index, the Gallup Healthways Poll/Well-being Index in the US, the Gallup World Poll, the OECD Better Life Index, and the New Economics Foundation's Happy Planet Index. It encourages learning about these different measures to raise awareness of how happiness can be quantified and used to inform policymaking and guide communities toward greater well-being.

1. Make Seattle Happy Report:
A Blueprint for Raising
Awareness in Your Community
about the importance of happiness as a guide
for the future of our nation, neighborhoods
and personal life
PART TWO: MEASURING HAPPINESS

2. Part Two:
Measuring Happiness
Subjective Well-being Indices for
A New Economic Paradigm and
Guide for our Future

3. Can Happiness be Measured?
The short answer: Yes.
The long answer: Still yes,
and can be found in the
OECD’s Guidelines on
Measuring Subjective Well-
being which documents the
validity and the status of
happiness measurements
World Happiness Report
which describes the status of happiness and well-being
measures and their role in public policy.
Both documents can be found online as free downloads

4. Measuring Happiness in Your Community
The Happiness
Initiative/Happy Counts
provides a scientifically
internally and externally
validated subjective
measure of well-being any
one can use at any scale to
measure happiness.
Note: This use is grassroots, and not a random
sample. Thus, your survey results are great for
conversation, but you need a scientifically
valid sample as a guide for policy makers.
download the “how to”
happycounts.org/toolkits

5. What are Happiness Indicators?
Educating yourself and your community about
happiness measures is an important part of
raising awareness.
The rest of this section introduces the major
happiness measures or indexes being used
nationally and internationally.
Please note: While the field of happiness and well-being
measures is relatively new, there has been reasonable
convergence of domains and conditions of well-being and
indicators into an accepted list, indicating experts mostly agree
on how to measure happiness and the conditions of happiness
world-wide.

6. Happiness Indicators

7. Bhutan’s Gross National Happiness
Where: Bhutan
Scale: City and Regions
Frequency: About
Every 2 years
Entity: Government
Access:
grossnationalhappiness.com

9. Where: USA Scale: scalable from
state to community
Frequency: Determined Entity: NGO
by user
Access: happycounts.org
The Happiness Initiative/Happy Counts Gross National Happiness Index

11. Gallup Healthways Poll/Well-being Index
Where: USA
Scale: National to City or Region
Frequency: Daily surveys, annual public reports
Entity: Business
Access: well-beingindex.com

13. Gallup World Poll
Where: International Scale: Nations
Frequency: Periodic survey, annual public reports
Entity: Business
Access: gallup.com/strategicconsulting/en-us/worldpoll.aspx

14. *additional areas
*
*

15. U Penn Center for Positive Psychology – Authentic Happiness
Where: University of
Pennsylvania
Scale: Individual
Frequency: Studies
released in journals,
etc.
Entity: Academic
Access:
authentichappiness.sas.upenn.e
du/Default.aspx

17. OECD Better Life Index
Where: International Scale: Nation
Frequency: Annual Entity: NGO
Access: oecdbetterlifeindex.org

19. New Economics Foundation Happy Planet Index
Where: International
Scale: National
Frequency: Annual
Entity: NGO
Access: happyplanetindex.org

21. European Social Survey
Where: Europe
Scale: National, some
regions
Frequency: Annual
Entity: Academic
Access: ess.nsd.uib.no/

23. Where: Great Britain Scale: Nation
Frequency: Annual Entity: Government
Access: ons.gov.uk/ons/interactive/well-being-wheel-of-measures/index.html
Great Britain’s Measures of National Well-being

25. Canadian Index of Well-being
Where: Canada
Scale: National, limited
to provincial levels
Frequency: Annually
Entity: NGO
Access:
uwaterloo.ca/canadian-index-wellbeing/

27. World Values Survey
Where: The Globe Scale: Nations
Frequency: Annually or longer intervals
Entity: NGO
Access: worldvaluessurvey.org

29. What next?
Part One: Raising Awareness
Part Two: Measuring Happiness
Part Three: Policy Recommendations
Visit happycounts.org to gather tools and
resources for grassroots activism in your
community
towards a new economic paradigm
your happiness counts.
count your happiness

30. Make Seattle Happy: A Blueprint for Raising
Awareness in Your Community.
Please use these materials to raise awareness about the
importance of happiness and well-being, the happiness
movement and the aim of a new economic paradigm.
These materials may be used or reproduced for any non-
commercial use. For more information, inquiries or
comments, please email info@happycounts.org or visit
happycounts.org
Report compiled by: Laura Musikanski, JD, MBA
Editing team: Eldan Goldenberg, James Bradbury
Copyright © The Happiness Initiative 2013