Happiness index to gauge Britain's national mood

Tawney · Post by **Tawney** » 15 Nov 2010, 04:10

I'm all for anything high profile that says there's more to life than GDP and consumption. Lots of sceptics though, as can be seen from the comments after the article. Perhaps they remember Cameron’s background is in public relations.

Happiness index to gauge Britain's national mood

The UK government is poised to start measuring people's psychological and environmental wellbeing, bidding to be among the first countries to officially monitor happiness. Despite "nervousness" in Downing Street at the prospect of testing the national mood amid deep cuts and last week's riot in Westminster, the Office of National Statistics will shortly be asked to produce measures to implement David Cameron's long-stated ambition of gauging "general wellbeing" ....

... The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, announced last year he intended to include happiness and wellbeing in France's measurement of economic progress. Sarkozy was responding to recommendations made by two Nobel economists, Joseph Stiglitz and Amartya Sen, who called on world leaders to move away from a purely economic concept of gross domestic product, which measures economic production, to wellbeing and sustainability. That report suggested a shift from production to greater attention to household wealth and an assessment of whether countries were growing sustainably or damaging the environment.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... ional-mood

I wonder what happened to Prof Richard Layard? Labour’s 'Happiness Tsar' talked some good sense.

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 15 Nov 2010, 08:41

The first steps away from GDP being the primary measure of prosperity?

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 15 Nov 2010, 14:17

A good start, but the Human Development Index might be a better bet, it's a bit more reliable.

To give an extreme example, if being beaten up on a Saturday night by a drunken spouse is a regular occurrence, one can be ecstatically happy when it doesn't happen.

Tawney · Post by **Tawney** » 15 Nov 2010, 18:51

Here's an interesting interview from Labour's 'happiness tsar'.

Will this man make you happy?

The government's 'happiness tsar', Richard Layard, thinks he knows why we're all so miserable - we're overpaid, over-materialistic and lonely. But, he tells Stuart Jeffries, he has a plan to banish the blues in Britain, once and for all

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... ng.schools

Plus the prof's book.
http://www.DODGY TAX AVOIDERS.co.uk/gp/product/0241 ... R49HDY6PC5

Lord Beria3 · Post by **Lord Beria3** » 15 Nov 2010, 20:11

Providing free escorts to the population would raise general happiness...

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 15 Nov 2010, 20:26

Lord Beria3 wrote:Providing free escorts to the population would raise general happiness...

I sold mine when I bought my van. They're a bit old now anyway, having been replaced by the Focus. Surely free electric ones would fit the governments plan better

.

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 15 Nov 2010, 21:52

Do peakists dream of electric escorts?

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 15 Nov 2010, 22:35

What do you do in yours

?

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 15 Nov 2010, 22:39

< spits out tea >

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 15 Nov 2010, 22:42

I started doing the NEF's "happiness index" quiz but kind-of ground to a halt on questions like "Are you satisfied with life over-all?" (erm...whose? It makes me miserable to think of all those poor ****s in the Sudan, for example) and "Do you feel optimistic about your future?" well not particularly, but does that make me a miserable git?

In Scots law (when we lived there) defending a friend counted as a form of self-defence: your friend was deemed as important to you, as your self. Bloody excellent outlook. So when asked "are you satisfied?..." when I've just had a roast and red wine with the delightful famille Renewable, but it's below zero and people are busy losing the roofs over their heads, possibly including my mate who has 2 jobs to look after, wot am I supposed to say??

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 16 Nov 2010, 11:15

So happiness is a form of psychopathy, evidence of an inability to empathise with others.

And I used to think Gross National Happiness was a smart idea.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 16 Nov 2010, 12:07

biffvernon wrote:So happiness is a form of psychopathy, evidence of an inability to empathise with others.

If what that test is measuring is happiness, then yes, 'twould appear so.

However, I don't think that that is what that particular test is measuring. I think they've got it wrong.

I'm a fundamentally happy person, but if I answered those questions literally, I'd come out as, well, something else.

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 16 Nov 2010, 12:36

RenewableCandy wrote:I started doing the NEF's "happiness index" quiz

I did that one. Some questions are odd and there's no 'it depends' answers. However:

Code: Select all

Your personal Happy Planet Index&#40;HPI&#41; is 73.5.

Impressive. This is above the world average of 46, but still below the target of 83, which represents a good life that doesnít cost the Earth. There are still some ways that you can improve your score.

Life Expectancy

Hurray! Your life expectancy is 90.7, well above average for your gender. Probably, you're doing all the major things right ñ eating well, not smoking, getting regular exercise, and you're lucky enough to have the right genes.

Ecological Footprint

Your ecological footprint is 2.58 global hectares, or 1.43 planets. You are using between one and one and a half times your share of the planet's resources. If you are living in a developed country like the UK, this is no mean feat - the UK average is 5.4 g ha. Your footprint is below average for industrialised countries, typical instead of people in many middle income countries such as Costa Rica. The world average is 2.2 g ha. Given the infrastructure and society you live in, knocking a few more deci-hectares of your footprint is, we know, very tricky.

Life Satisfaction
We've measured your well-being in three ways. Firstly, you told us how satisfied with life you are over all. Here's how your answer compares with those in Britain and around the world&#58;

You reported a life satisfaction of 8. This is the most common response across UK and indeed all of Europe. However, it is above average, so we are happy that you are so happy. Only in two countries is the mean life satisfaction higher - Switzerland and Denmark.

Feeling Good?
You also answered some questions about your recent mood. These are the same questions as DEFRA &#40;the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs&#41; used in a national study in 2007. Our scale goes from 0-28, with a low score meaning lots of negative moods and a high score meaning lots of positive moods. The average score in England is 19.6. Your score today is 22.

etc etc.

Did you actually manage to complete yours, RC?

Mean Mr Mustard · Post by **Mean Mr Mustard** » 16 Nov 2010, 18:13

This from Redundant Public Servant's blog:

http://redundantpublicservant.wordpress ... ened-room/

Due to a freak wormhole in my computer brought about by the Large Hadron Collider a government News Release from 2019 arrived in my inbox this morning. I thought I should share it with you.

“Embargoed until: 00:01 January 1, 2019

Minister salutes New Year with recovery in happiness

Figures released today by the Department of Happiness show that recent growth in national happiness measured by the internationally recognised Mirth Index has continued in the last quarter. National performance reached a low over the summer last year with the poor performance of England in the World Cup exerting a downward pressure on the Mirth Index (except in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales that saw significant increases in their own indices). Seasonally adjusted happiness is now 17% and approaching a record high.

Lord Opik, the Secretary of State for Happiness said,

‘The figures released today are great news for the country and reflect the real improvements being achieved on the ground. Whether you are chuckling in Chorley, being giddy in Guilford or hysterical in Harpenden you know that being positive and looking on the bright side is good for you and good for the country too. Well done and keep it up.’

Trinny and Susannah, the Ministers of State for Mirth (job share) said,

‘Bang on, Britain! Keep it up! You’re looking fan-bloody-tastic!’

Lord Brown, the government’s Happiness Tsar said,

‘I think we’ve shown that neoclassical endogenous growth theories of happiness are of limited value here.’

Notes for editors:

The Mirth Index measures happiness according to measures set out in EU Directive 2013/458/EEC Harmonisation of national standards for the measurement of citizen happiness. Securing agreement to the standard, based on work at the Institute of Hilarity in London, was a significant foreign policy achievement of the government in its first term.
UK performance in happiness has outstripped that of other EU members states in the Euroglee Zone. IMF (International Merriment Foundation) intervention is ongoing in some states.
Factors included in the Mirth Index include survey responses to questions like: ‘And what side of the bed did you get out of this morning?’ ‘How frequently have you sung in the shower during the last four weeks?’ ‘How many jobs are you currently working to make ends meet?’
The Local Government (Happiness)(England) Regulations 2016 introduced a new duty on local councils, and other specified bodies, to promote happiness (as defined) in their local areas. Local happiness contracts set out binding happiness outcome measures (not targets) for communities. Progress is reported to local communities through the local annual Happiness Report.
Happiness in North Ireland, Scotland and Wales is a matter for the devolved administrations.
The first annual report of Her Majesty’s Inspector of Happiness is expected on 1 April, 2019. The Inspectorate of Happiness was established after the Wolverhampton scandal and laughter riots of 2016 in which local happiness figures were revealed by a whistleblower to have been manufactured. The work of the Inspectorate includes happiness spot-checks in workplaces, homes and public transport.
The Secretary of State and Ministers will be visiting Mrs Miggins’ Custard Pie Factory and Emporium today and will be available for photographs.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 16 Nov 2010, 19:10

Your personal Happy Planet Index(HPI) is 89.1.

Congratulations! You are already achieving a good life without costing the Earth.

Though apparently my ecological footprint is 2.48 global hectares. (That is just about the size of my field, phew).