• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Brunswick Business Daily

BRUNSWICK BUSINESS DAILY
News That Affects Your Business

  • Home
  • BUSINESS
  • MONEY
  • REAL ESTATE
  • POLITICS
  • US
  • WORLD

Finland Is Again the World’s Happiest Country, Report Finds

by

In Finland, a relatively egalitarian society, people tend not to be fixated on “keeping up with the Joneses.”

“People often do pretty well in social comparison,” said Antti Kauppinen, a philosophy professor at the University of Helsinki. “This starts from education; everybody has access to good education. Income and wealth differences are relatively small.”

David Pfister, an architect from Austria who lives in Oulunkyla, a suburb of Helsinki, said that he would describe Finns as content, but that it was hard to say if they were happy. “The baby has increased our happiness,” said his wife, Veera Yliniemi, a teacher. Another man in the same suburb, Janne Berliini, 49, said he was happy enough. “I have work,” he said. “The basic things are in order.”

People in Finland also tend to have realistic expectations for their lives. But when something in life does exceed expectations, people will often act with humility, preferring a self-deprecating joke over bragging, said Sari Poyhonen, a linguistics professor at the University of Jyvaskyla. Finns, she said, are pros at keeping their happiness a secret.

The report this year received little attention in the Finnish news media. “Finland is still the happiest country in the world,” began a short article that ran on Page 19 in Ilta-Sanomat, a daily newspaper.

All of the countries that ranked in the top 10 — including the four other Nordic countries — have different political philosophies than in the United States, No. 14 on the list, behind Ireland and ahead of Canada. Lower levels of happiness in the United States could be driven by social conflict, drug addiction, lack of access to health care and income inequality, Dr. Wang said.

Things in Finland are far from perfect. Like other parts of the continent, far-right nationalism is on the rise, and unemployment is 8.1 percent, higher than the average unemployment rate of 7.5 percent in the European Union.

View Original Source

Filed Under: BUSINESS Tagged With: European Union, Finland, Happiness, Income Inequality, Nordic Countries, Politics and Government, Polls and Public Opinion, Research, United Nations, United States

Primary Sidebar

More to See

M Patrick Carroll’s CARROLL Showcases Strong Start to Q3

Reading Time: 4 minutes As the Southeastern United States’ real estate market continues its strong performance, the CARROLL real estate investment … [Read More...] about M Patrick Carroll’s CARROLL Showcases Strong Start to Q3

Antiracism Push Prompts Rethink of Asia’s ‘Beautiful White’ Creams

TOKYO—Global skin-care companies are split over a term commonly used on Asian antiblemish creams that means “beautiful white,” with Unilever PLC … [Read More...] about Antiracism Push Prompts Rethink of Asia’s ‘Beautiful White’ Creams

How Much Is Gavin Newsom To Blame For California’s Wildfires?

A pair of massive wildfires within 150 miles of each other are terrorizing thousands in northern California two years after Gov. Gavin Newsom cut … [Read More...] about How Much Is Gavin Newsom To Blame For California’s Wildfires?

Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions | About/ Contact
Copyright © 2022 · Brunswick Business Daily
As Amazon Associates, we earn commissions from qualifying purchases · Log in