Life Satisfaction
Are you happy?
Ever wondered how happy you are?
Ever wondered how happy the people in New Zealand are?
In case you did: People in New Zealand are actually very happy about their lives, at least according to the 2015 survey of the OECD.
In an international ranking they occupy the sixth place of 38. So I guess they are pretty happy over there. But then again, happiness isn’t really something you can measure, is it?
So how did OECD figure out the overall life satisfaction?
Many different factors played a part in this: housing, income, jobs, education, communication, environment, civic engagement, health, safety and work-life balance.
What I found quite interesting is that in New Zealand, community was the strongest field. I think this fits very well with the picture we have of the Kiwis; as a big, and mostly friendly community.
Though I guess it’s true that in New Zealand people are mostly satisfied with their lives, it doesn’t mean that everyone is happy. Of course there are differences — for example between rich and poor. Like every survey, this is just an overview, an average rate.
Nevertheless, I feel like this ranking does tell us something about the country. After all, there has to be a reason some countries are higher up than others. And it’s not always just the living conditions. People’s mindset also plays a part in it.
So with regard to what we’ve learned about New Zealand so far, I think this survey is a good representation of this mindset.
As an example I tend to think about the way, locals helped tourists after the big earthquake last year, or how they handled the former Prime Minister John Key (or how John Key handled publicity).
There is no fool proof way to measure happiness, but I like to think that this survey isn’t too far off with its result.
So to conclude: No, I can’t tell you whether or not you’re happy, but if you’re from Germany I can tell you, that we’re ranked in 13. place. You can make of that what you want. (In case you want to investigate this case further, here is a link to the ranking:
http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/topics/life-satisfaction/ )
