Why Finland And Denmark Are Happier Than The U.S.

What makes me happy is... I think I was definitely born happy, and then life happens. I'm getting a little emotional here. I feel very happy. Very happy. I'm

happier

now than when I lived in New York and I was probably paid twice as much in New York as I am here. Our happiness is something like a quiet happiness, a kind of stillness. What do you need to be happy? The Nordic countries seem to have it all figured out. Finland and Denmark have consistently topped the United Nations' most prestigious index, the World Happiness Report, in all six areas of life satisfaction.

How did they decipher the formula? And, are the people they really are the happiest? The United Nations just named it the happiest place on Earth. It's not Disneyworld. It's Finland. In 2019, the World Happiness Report named Finland the happiest country in the world for the second year in a row. Denmark came in second after taking first place in 2013 and 2016. Year after year, Nordic countries such as Norway, Iceland and Sweden round out the top of the list. Enter Jeffrey Sachs, a Columbia professor and co-editor of the World Happiness Report. What do those countries have? They have a high level of prosperity, no doubt, but they are by no means the richest countries in the world.

The idea is a good balance of life. They believe that it is not necessary to become super rich to be happy. In fact, if someone is super rich, look, what happens to that person? So they are not companies that dedicate all the effort and time to becoming billionaires. They seek a good balance in life and the results are extremely positive. The annual happiness ranking began in 2012, but we can trace the measurement of happiness back to 1971. It emerged from inspiration from the country of Bhutan, a country in the Himalayas that many people know for its innovation in attempting to measure gross national happiness.

Globally, one standard for measuring success and productivity is the gross national product. Bhutan had the brilliant idea of ​​trying to measure happiness. Measuring happiness is a rather complicated matter. First of all, we must understand what happiness means. It means satisfaction with the way life is going. It is not primarily a measure of whether one laughed or smiled yesterday, but rather how one feels about the course of one's life. Meet Meik Wiking, happiness researcher and CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Denmark. There are many factors that affect happiness, from biology to income levels to the city in which they live.

But I think the best predictor we see in the data of whether people are happy or not is whether they are satisfied or happy with their relationships. So do we have someone we can rely on in times of need? Do we have someone with whom we can share our hopes and concerns? These six categories help explain differences in life satisfaction around the world. GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life decisions, social support, generosity and absence of corruption. On average, richer countries are

happier

. On average, richer people are happier. But, once we reach a certain level of income, an extra $100 a month won't affect the way people feel about their lives.

So with money, as with everything else, we see diminishing marginal returns. And I don't know why I mention this quote, because it's extremely cheesy, but there's a Kanye West song where he says that "having money isn't everything. Not having it is." And I think that's true in the sense that when you don't have it, it's the only thing you worry about. And when you have money, you can worry about other things. Happiness also seems elusive. We have two words for happiness in Danish. Then we have "lykke", which is the elusive thing. What you experience once in a blue moon.

And then we have to be "content", like the word content, which is different because it's down to Earth and you can be content even though it's nothing special, it's not a special day. Lykke seems like something elusive that you can't quite chase. Being content is more like our way of thinking. So I feel like sometimes I choose to be happy instead of trying to chase happiness because it seems like it will never happen that way. Maria lives in Helsinki with her husband, Duke, and her 2-year-old son Luka. Wow! Wow! Ah hello! Yeah! There she is. There you are, little monster.

Finland is the best place to have children. When you go to give birth, it's almost free. We spent three full days in the hospital as a family. We had our own family room and we had food, support, help and everything. And in the end the bill was about €300. It's basically like living in a hotel. In Finland, new mothers receive a free baby box filled with 63 items to help during baby's first year. You don't have to buy anything for the first two or three months. Of course, diapers and things like that, but basically. And also, you can put your baby to sleep in that box.

In fact, our baby, Luka, slept in the box for the first month. Finland, like other Nordic countries, offers generous parental leave. Anu Partanen, author of "The Nordic Theory of Everything," spent 10 years as a journalist in the United States before returning to her home country of Finland. She is also a mother. In Finland, you have 10 months of paid parental leave, of which about four months are reserved for the mother and you start it before the baby is born and then the father can keep nine weeks. Typically, both parents stay home for the first three weeks. They share the rest of the time until the baby is nine months old.

A father can even stay at home until the child is 3 years old and keep her job. However, the stipend is much less. Another determinant of well-being is the sense of personal freedom to make important life decisions. Can you shape your life the way you want? Christina was unhappy with her job in advertising and she took an eight-month break. Social security is also something that I think is very important. What I did didn't make me happy and didn't allow me to have that work-life balance that we value so much here. And so we have a system that allowed me to quit my job and have some time to think and figure out, you know, what my next step in life is.

Christina received around $2,000 a month from the Danish government while she was unemployed. She is now in school to become a painter. Her tuition is covered and she receives an educational stipend of approximately $1,000 a month. Two of the biggest advantages of life in Denmark and Finland are free education and healthcare. Income taxes are not as high in the Nordic countries as Americans tend to think. However, in general, it is completely true that the Nordic countries collect more taxes than the United States. In Finland and the Nordic countries, there are higher taxes on consumption, such as eating in restaurants and buying jeans.

But what I think many Americans forget is that the Nordics are happy to pay those taxes because they receive services in return. Daycare, excellent public education. Includes your college tuition, free. Includes health care, all of them are included in your taxes. When the news came that Finland is the happiest country in the world, I think most people reacted and asked: what are they talking about? We don't consider ourselves very happy because winter is dark and gloomy and whatever. It is easier for Finns and Danes to shape their lives because the government covers many of their basic needs.

The American dream is probably most alive in Denmark. The perception of freedom is probably a little different too. It seems that in the United States the feeling is that one has to be protected from the government and one has to be free from the government. I think in Denmark the feeling is that the government protects you. People trust other people. You leave a bag at a restaurant in Finland, you're pretty sure you're going to get it back, and the money is still there. People even leave babies parked in strollers outside coffee shops while they run errands.

And I think, in part, Nordic society cultivates that trust by simply providing basic services for everyone. So there is much less poverty, much less feeling of injustice, inequality and crime. People receive the education they need. They can have a job. They can work. They don't have to fight so much in life. There is no super-wealth and there is absolutely no super-poverty. Everyone participates. It turns out that it leads to a wonderful kind of life and that, year after year, it is expressed as something that makes these countries the happiest in the world. Monica and Alex are expats living in Copenhagen with their two teenage children.

Alex is originally from the UK and Monica is originally from New York. What else do you need? The olive oil and then the balsamic vinegar. Where is the bowl? We originally came here expecting to only stay three years, but it was so good that we've been here for nine now. It is also safe. And this comes back to community and trust. We can let our kids go out and we don't have to sit here really worrying about whether they're going to come back. Are you sure where you are going? Do we have to go pick them up?

You still worry, of course, but it's very different. There is still this very strong sense of family, friends and community. Balance is the formula of happiness. Aristotle was right when he began the study of happiness 2,300 years ago. According to Aristotle's golden point, good behavior lies between two vices, excess and deficiency. People who only chase money and say, "I will be happier the richer I am," turn out to be less happy. I think having a pleasant environment is part of happiness. But I also think it should tie into something that resonates with you on a deeper level.

Having a nice environment, having a lot of money and being in a five-star hotel in Las Vegas does not make you happy at all. So I think it's necessary to have that balance. Cue the classic Nordic work-life balance. Rich Perusi, a former New Yorker, has lived in Copenhagen for seven years. People stay pretty strict with a 9 to 5 workday. But I do think we manage to get as much done in a short period of time here as we did in longer periods of time working in New York. One of the comments we heard when we first came here was from a Danish woman who when she saw someone working late she said, "Are they doing it because they can't finish their work?

Is something wrong with them?" Versus: “Are they just trying to get ahead at work?” There is a sense that yes, the work is important and needs to be done to a high quality, but you also need to make sure it is balanced appropriately. Saara Alhopuro is a diplomat who has shaped her work schedule to dedicate time to her passion. So I actually need to go to my physical workplace only three days a week. So the rest of the time I can spend here in the middle of nature. When I walk through the forest, I do it very quietly, paying attention to all the little details and all the colors.

Very slowly and I try to detect all the little details. And I completely lose track of time. I usually spend between five and six hours picking mushrooms. People don't make as much money in the Nordic countries as they do in the United States. So, it's not really about how much you earn. It is not necessary to earn as much to have the same quality of life as in the United States. So if we look at the dimension called life satisfaction, we can see that that money does matter for well-being and happiness. But I want to say that, on average, richer countries are happier.

On average, richer people are happier. But the mechanism here is that running out of money is a cause of unhappiness. Not everyone likes to talk about money either. In Finland, there's been this kind of rule that you don't talk about money much, at least like my parents basically didn't tell me how much they earned, for example, if I asked them when I was a kid. It would be considered bragging if you said how much you earn, etc. People are happier when they are generous and when they feel that the society they live in is a generous society.

And then we find that people want to live in places with decent government. If the government is corrupt, if the leaders are strange, autocratic or corrupt, the society is unhappy. In 2019, Finland elected the world's youngest sitting prime minister, 34-year-old Sanna Marin. Danes are among the happiest people in the world, but they are not necessarily the friendliest. Lars AP, author of "F***ing Flink" and founder of the movement of the same name, wants to change that. So F***ing Flink is a national movement. Our main goal is to welcome Danes who are among the happiest people in the world, but who are also the friendliest people in the world.

Why are we doing this? Well, because friendship and positive human interaction mean a lot to us. Science shows us. And that is why we are trying to do it in all sectors, in all areas that we can imagine. Finland and Denmark have populations of less than 6 millionpeople. The United States has more than 330 million inhabitants. The Nordic countries are also quite homogeneous. Does population size and diversity affect happiness? Many countries with relatively homogeneous populations, ethnic or religious similarities, etc., are not very happy. So it's no guarantee. And on the other hand, it is possible to have a lot of diversity and more happiness.

Our northern neighbor of the United States, Canada, ranks higher. Yes, I think Finland is probably one of the most homogeneous countries in Europe. Still, we've had quite a bit of immigration lately. But I would say it's still pretty homogeneous. I think it's funny because I guess I always assumed Danish society was kind of diverse. But then we went to see Dave Chappelle's show here in Copenhagen and he and the guy who was opening for him opened their show by saying, "Denmark is so white." And I'd never really thought about that before. But then ever since that show, I think about it all the time.

We have had immigration for hundreds of years from all over Europe. I mean, in the '70s, a lot of people came from Türkiye, from Vietnam. And we had people from Yugoslavia in the 90s. And Denmark has remained happy throughout that period. The 2018 World Happiness Report explores happiness among natives and immigrants. It shows that when immigrants are happy, countries are happy too. But if the country is already happy, new immigrants will experience greater happiness. The fact that there is an influx of foreign-born people should not undermine happiness in the Nordic countries. There is also a dark side to happiness.

Just like in Denmark, one of the biggest epidemics right now is stress and people getting sick from stress and having to leave their jobs. And people outside of Denmark didn't really understand what that meant, like, "What do you mean, stress leave?" But it could be that expectation of achieving work-life balance that's stressing people out. That you both have to work, but you also have to take care of your family. You also have to be sociable with your friends. You also have to, you know, do this self-actualization thing and hobbies and travel. And there are only so many things you have to do in the same number of hours, whereas maybe in New York or other places you know you're going to work until 10 every day, so you don't expect to have the same balance. know?

It can be difficult for outsiders to enter Nordic cultures. Danes have close-knit groups of friends and family. It is not very natural for them to include new people in their groups. It's a little harder to come in from the outside and become part of that group. We've had some great Danish friends, some we met at work, but I think it's harder on that side, compared to the UK and the US, in terms of developing friendships. Maintaining high levels of happiness can have serious side effects. Within states, if you look at the level of life satisfaction, the higher the life satisfaction, the higher the level of suicide rates actually is also slightly higher.

And the theory here is that it might be harder to be unhappy in a happy society because it creates a stronger contrast to how you feel if you're surrounded by very happy people. Denmark used to have really high suicide rates. So in 1980, we had suicide rates of about 40 per 100,000, which was, I think, one of the highest in the world. Now, fortunately, it's about 25% of that, so it's about 10 per 100,000. South Korea and Lithuania have some of the highest suicide rates in the OECD in 2017. Fortunately, suicide rates have been greatly reduced in Denmark. And also in Finland there has been a big reduction in the last two decades.

But still, it is not zero. So we still have to reduce it further. Despite mental health challenges, a large part of Finnish culture focuses on general well-being. The sauna is something sacred for Finns. I have many good memories of these sauna moments with my family. I guess the sauna is something that, as a Finn, you have to like and love. In 2018, there were 5.5 million people living in Finland and around 2.3 million saunas. My grandmother always used to tell us kids that we can't fight in the sauna because then we would risk angering the sauna elf. And there's even a sauna in the Finnish government, where they say they make some of the most important political commitments because culturally fighting in the sauna is not allowed.

The Danes have mastered the art of comfort and convenience through hygge. I think the best short definition of what hygge is is the art of creating a pleasant atmosphere. And of course, that's something that happens everywhere. But what is uniquely Danish is that we have a word that describes that situation. You can curl up on a couch and read a good book and have good music and just be in a hyggekrog, actually it means a hygge corner of your room. There is a social component to hygge that I think is really important. Hygge seeps everywhere across the country, from cozy drinks to warm lighting.

A concrete manifestation of hygge is attention to lighting. The general rule is that the warmer, the brighter, the more hyggelig the lights are. That's why Danes love candles. So how does hygge contribute to happiness? So happiness is having a strong sense of purpose in life. It is also about living moments of pleasure every day. It is also feeling satisfied with life in general. So hygge is this element in our daily lives where we experience comfort, pleasure and togetherness and hopefully over time that also accumulates into a greater sense of satisfaction with life. Another way Denmark and Finland support their citizens?

Paid annual leave. Thus, in all Nordic countries everyone has the right to paid annual leave. It varies a little from country to country, but in Finland, for example, the normal thing is that after working for the same employer for a year, it's four weeks in the summer and one week in the winter, and everyone gets this. In fact, I heard a statistic. It's kind of like, when Americans come home after work on October 27, you will have worked as much as the Danes will work all year. But I actually think that taking a little more time off also makes you a lot more productive.

In Finland it is traditional to spend the summer in a summer cabin or mökki. We had a summer house when I was little. I think it was something my grandfather built himself during the '60s. And we went there like we always did when I was little. Not a week goes by during the summer that I don't think, "Oh, I wish we still had that." Traditionally, mökkis did not necessarily have electricity or running water. And usually, most mökkis come with a lake or the Baltic Sea. You can go to their sauna and take a dip in the water.

So in a Nordic country, the vacation season also serves families, who if parents stagger their vacations a little, they can face their children's summer vacations much more easily. And of course, then the family can spend time together. Maybe Finnish happiness is more internal, you know? It's like inner peace, or something like that. It's not that open. It's like balance. I think it's more balanced. Very prepared! In short, happiness is relative. If you think you have more sex than your neighbor, then you are happier. We are social beings. We compare ourselves to each other. So there are social comparisons in salary in terms of houses and how successful we think we are, but also in terms of gender.

So what's one small way we can be happier today? For me, something that I have done that has made me happier is exercise. I think saying no or being a little more selfish can make you happy. One step to improving your sense of happiness is to do it first. You are walking down the street, someone else is walking towards you. It may just be a smile. It could be simply looking the other person in the eyes, whatever that may be. But do it first, because you can't expect the other person to do it. Don't be reactive, go first.

In Denmark we sometimes talk about the ABCs of mental health. If you want to improve your mood, there are three types of universal tips: do something active, do something together with other people, and do something meaningful. So, gather a group of friends and go for a walk. That could be something that could improve your mood. Unfortunately, predicting the future in this area is very difficult. Where will the United States be? It could be even worse than now. It could be much better than now. It is a matter of making decisions for a better direction for the country and one that is not guided by fear and hate, but is guided by a sense of community and the common good.