The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has released the results of its annual multi-faceted survey among several developed countries that include: Canada, United States, Mexico, Chile, Finland, Sweden, Norway, United Kingdom, Poland, Germany, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Estonia, Israel, Belgium, Hungary Czech Republic, Slovak Republic, Denmark, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Iceland, Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia, Austria, Korea, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. Among these first world countries, Australia took the lead in positive rankings and this has happened for three consecutive years now.
The Better Life Index
The online survey, called the Better Life Index, aims to understand the conditions of people coming from various locations on earth. To find out whether people are living well, the survey asked people to rate their satisfaction in local matters such as income, jobs, work-life balance, community and civic engagement, education, housing, environment, health, safety, and life satisfaction. There are in-depth descriptions of each area along with the ratings. Aside from collecting the residents’ evaluations of their country, the survey presents statistical data of OECD survey site’s visitors, tallying age and gender distributions. It also contrasts the topic preferences of each country’s survey participants.
After gaining insight on the people’s well being, the OECD plans to create developmental strategies based on the data they have gathered. The organization intends to assist countries in understanding their own socio-economic conditions and implementing changes that will help improve their citizens’ lives. Research will be conducted once more to test whether the suggestions given for improvement are effective.
Australia on Top
Australians have given the highest scores to evaluate their country. People from other well-off countries were not as generous as the Australians when providing their assessments. These are the rankings given by the citizens of the happiest country on earth:
Housing = 7.5
Income = 4.5
Jobs = 7.
Community = 8.3
Education = 7.6
Environment = 8.7
Civic engagement = 9.4
Health = 9.3
Life Satisfaction = 8.1
Safety = 9.5
Work-Life Balance = 6.5
More Australians are satisfied with their lives than non-Australians (84% of Australians as compared to 80% of others) because they have more fulfilling experiences than disappointing ones. Many things may have contributed to their happiness, such as their above average income (Australians earn US$28,884 yearly while others earn an average of US$23,047 yearly), abundance of jobs (73% Australians are working while the average among other countries is 66%), higher life expectancy (82 years for Australians and 80 years among non-Australians), and engagement to community and public affairs (94% Australians are supportive of their community as compared to 90% in other countries).
Analysts say that Australia’s booming economy is responsible for the high satisfaction ratings among Australians. The country has a wealth of natural resources that has provided a steady stream of income into the nation for almost 20 years.
Other Happy Countries
Wealthy countries that received a lot of positive rankings are the following:
Second place = Sweden
Third place = Canada
Fourth place = Norway
Fifth place = Switzerland
Sixth place = USA
Seventh place = Denmark
Eight place = the Netherlands
Ninth place = Iceland
Tenth place = UK
Though these countries have made it to the top of the list, they didn’t receive ratings as high as what Australians have given to their own land.
Photo Credit: Australian Flag
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Google+
LinkedIn
Email