This document discusses different approaches to measuring happiness and well-being across countries and organizations. It describes Gross National Happiness, which uses surveys to measure quality of life in Bhutan. The OECD Better Life Index assigns importance to 11 categories that are essential to well-being, such as health, education, and work-life balance. The UK also officially monitors happiness by surveying citizens on their life satisfaction, happiness, anxiety levels, and the worthwhileness of their lives. The overall goal of these measures is to systematically track subjective well-being and inform policy decisions.

1. Happiness Indicators

2. How about measuring happiness?

3. Measuring Happiness
• Very young science
• But there are measures out there
• Potentially great impact on decision making

7. Gross National Happiness
• Quantitative measurement of well-being and
quality of life
• Measure of progress
• Representative periodic surveys
• gross national happiness index

8. Gross National Happiness Index
based on
• equitable social development
• cultural preservation
• conservation of the environment
• promotion of good governance

9. 9

10. Impact on Education
• deep critical and creative thinking,
• ecological literacy,
• practice of the country’s profound, ancient wisdom and
culture,
• contemplative learning,
• a holistic understanding of the world,
• genuine care for nature and for others,
• competency to deal effectively with the modern world,
• preparation for right livelihood, and
• informed civic engagement.

11. OECD – Better Life Index

12. 12

13. OECD Better Life Index
• www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org
• Goal: involve people in the debate
• Assign importance to each category
• 11 categories essential to well-being

14. 11 categories essential to well-being
material living conditions
• housing
• income
• jobs
quality of life
• community
• education
• environment
• governance
• health
• life satisfaction
• safety
• work-life balance

16. Facebook‘s approach
• Analyzing the use of emotion words for
approximately 100 million Facebook users
• word use in status updates ≈ self-reported
satisfaction with life
• represents overall emotional health of the nation
• importance of tracking such metrics.

18. Again: What do with ‘happiness indicators’?

19. • systematically measure subjective wellbeing
as part of a broader national accounting
system
• use these data to inform policy choices

20. The UK approach
among the first to officially monitor
‘happiness’
• how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?
• how happy did you feel yesterday?
• how anxious did you feel yesterday?
• to what extent do you feel the things you do in
your life are worthwhile?

21. 21
United Kingdom
Prime Minister Cameron

22. That’s it.