COVID-19 has brought a lot of despair to the world, but there are still countries staying happy despite the pandemic. Finland is one country that has been consistently happy for years, and they have not wavered in these unprecedented times.
Happiest Country Four Years in a Row
For the fourth year in a row, Finland was named the happiest country in the world. The list is based on the Gallup World Poll. The other countries in the top five starting with the second position were Iceland, Denmark, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.
There has been a lot of turmoil in the United States over the past year, but the United States jumped four spots from 18th to 14th. The United Kingdom also moved up from the 18th to the 14th position.
Australia stayed stable at 12th on the yearly list. Researchers are very focused on determining the impact of COVID-19 on happiness, so they have been very intrigued by this list since it was released.
Finland is usually known as a happy country because people have a sense of mutual trust. This characteristic has kept Finland at the top of the list for years. Trust gives people confidence that the government is in place to serve the people.
Countries that do not trust their government are known for being low on the list.
The Difference in the 2021 List
COVID-19 has caused the data on the list to be collected differently. There were no face-to-face interviews conducted for the list. They also predicated the questions on this list to determine the correspondence between happiness and COVID-19.
The report’s statistics have were based on GDP, life expectancy, generosity, social support, freedom, and corruption income. The list was initially published in 2012, and it has stayed relatively stable since its debut.
Researchers expected COVID-19 to alter the list, but it did not cause much fluctuation from 2020. Iceland rose two places to second place. Norway fell from fifth to eighth place. This was taken as a positive sign by people studying the list.
COVID-19 impacted people’s health and well-being throughout the world, but it was not apparent by the list.
People believed that COVID-19 did not change the list because everyone had to deal with it throughout the nation. Therefore, it was negated in the world and could have even caused solidarity, giving humans a sense of solidarity.
One interesting note is that Croatia went from 79th to 23rd on the list. Researchers were able to conduct in-person interviews in Croatia, which showed the impact of a personal connection when developing the list.
COVID-19 did increase mental health crises throughout the world. In the United Kingdom, 47% more people experienced mental health issues in May of 2020 than a year earlier because of the virus.
People who were unable to work or were furloughed during the pandemic saw a noticeable decline in happiness. The goal of researchers is to determine a proper life balance of joy in the future.
They want to find what aspects of traditional life and pandemic life such as working from home make people happiest in life.
Get REAL, UNBIASED coverage of the latest political news from our experts at World Politics News. Follow us on Social Media to receive instant updates on the latest changes in political betting odds.