Let’s follow Finland for a shot at our own happy ever after

IT may be a positive emotion, but happiness is a bit of a contentious subject, as it has been heavily debated through the ages as to what causes this feeling of joy, or what exactly it even is.

Greek philosopher Aristotle went all out in his understanding of it, referring to happiness as the meaning and the purpose of life (no pressure there).

And as the centuries rolled on, we became a little more lax on this human condition.

By the 20th century, Walt Disney deemed happiness to be simply an attainable state of mind.

‘It’s just according to the way you look at things,’ said the animation mogul.

And this mantra for life was certainly prevalent with the boundless optimism of some of our favourite Disney characters.

In today’s real world, we’ve evolved to realise that being happy all the time is definitely the stuff of fairytales – and there are not always happy endings. We’ve also understood more about what gives us that sustained, contented feeling, and there are indeed some quirky trends in modern-day optimism.

Research shows people with right-wing political views are happier than those on the left (which may not instil joy); having a baby increases your happiness levels for two years (but only if you get a good sleeper); 47 is the age of greatest unhappiness (due to the happiness U-bend in life – the good news is that things get better from there before death); and, of course, that Finland is the happiest country in the world.

The Finns were this week deemed the cheeriest of all for the seventh year in a row, according to the annual World Happiness Report.

As usual, all the Nordic countries followed closely behind, with Denmark, Iceland and Sweden ranking in the top five, and Norway in seventh place.

These results are based entirely on self-reported perceptions of satisfaction, but the external factors that contribute to people’s contentment in the report include a higher GDP per capita, a strong social support system, higher life expectancy, greater freedom, absence of government and corporate corruption, and charitable giving. We are never going to touch the Nordics, but Ireland has fared well in the happiness stakes in recent years, coming 13th in 2022 (impressive given that the pandemic had made most people miserable).

So it was interesting to see that this year we’ve slipped to a more surly 17th position, sandwiched between Belgium (16th) and the Czech Republic (18th).

THE drop could simply be down to demographics, with many of our citizens on the way down the Ubend of contentment (there are 1.46million people aged 25-44 in the country).

For this category in particular, there’s plenty to be disgruntled about. The housing crisis means that our youth will struggle to ever afford their own home, or even live away from their family home due to spiralling rents.

Homelessness and poverty are increasing here in Ireland, and social and economic inequality is sparking polarisation, ugliness and violence.

Isolation is also a major problem in this country.

In fact, a major study carried out last year showed that Ireland has the highest levels of loneliness in Europe, with more than 20% of respondents reporting feeling lonely, an affliction compounded by the pandemic.

Having several meaningful relationships in our lives is also associated with lower loneliness levels and better wellbeing.

‘Fostering strong social connections, helping others and demonstrating benevolence, and feeling like you have someone to count on in a time of need, is crucial for happy ageing, just like it is crucial at all ages,’ Ilana Ron Levey of Gallup, who collaborated on the report, told Fortune.

And whereas we can’t do a huge amount about our age or stage in life, perhaps we could take some lessons from the Nordic countries who seem to always manage to get things right.

Finland was decades ahead of the world with hybrid working, for example. It passed its first Flexible Working Act in 1996. It’s also got a good track record in gender equality (not quite as good as Iceland), and it’s without a doubt one of the best countries to live if you’re a parent.

Finnish family policy has aimed to make a combination of work and childcare easy.

The Finnish government provides various forms of financial support and childcare arrangements to alleviate costs for families. Oh, and education is done differently there too, with a focus on equality and happy, harmonious environments (and no standardised tests). So there’s no education elitism or mortgage-esque childcare fees. And speaking of housing, Finland is the only country in the EU where homelessness is falling thanks to its ‘housing first’ public policy.

Unlike Ireland’s muddled referendum messages on care, the Finnish constitution is very clear regarding such matters.

The Finnish state also guarantees sufficient social, health and medical care for all.

Such infrastructure would just make life a little less complicated and stressful, right? So now we know what we have to do to get us on the path to happiness – and that, folks, is a move to Finland.