The Gross National Happiness Index exists, and it works in Bhutan as well as other countries. Mike writes of his upcoming visit to Bhutan to see this phenomenon in action.
This blog post grew out of a conversation between Mike and myself. Mike talked about his upcoming trip to Bhutan and how the country tracked the happiness of its people. I was stunned: Happiness being tracked by the government!? He went on to explain that other countries did as well. I asked him if he would write a blog post about it, and to my delight he agreed. And here it is.
My wife Tammy and I will soon be traveling to Bhutan, a small country located north of India and south of China. It’s a beautiful country that limits the number of tourists. To our knowledge, there are no fast food restaurants, shopping centers, or chain hotels. More importantly, Bhutan prides itself on having a Gross National Happiness Index, which requires every law and policy to promote the happiness and well-being of its people.
How important is happiness and well-being in your life? Would you like to live in a country that actively supports happiness and well-being as well as economic success? Can promoting well-being and economic success co-exist?
For most citizens of the United States, economic success is paramount: how much money can I make and what can I buy or attain socially with that money. But does economic success bring happiness and well-being? For me, money can bring a transient form of happiness. Buying a new car or phone brings moments of joy, then it’s pretty much gone. More importantly, for many in our country who struggle economically day to day, is happiness and well-being a priority? When you struggle to pay rent, buy food, and access healthcare, happiness may just not be on the radar, an illusion for the poor.
The U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) rose only 2.9% in 2022, setting off concerns in the economic and political communities.1 Considered by many as a prime indicator of a successful U.S. economy, the GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced. I’m not sure those struggling daily believe their good fortune improves with a rising GDP; they are likely more concerned with whether there’s enough money for rent, food, and healthcare that week.
Unlike the United States, the governments of Bhutan, Canada, and some European countries do focus on more than economic indicators. They also understand and prioritize well-being, life satisfaction, and happiness of their citizens. What does the GDP really tell us about how people are experiencing their lives and their sense of satisfaction? For me, the GDP is just a number that explains little about anyone’s well-being, unless being rich and buying big cars and houses is one’s major life goal.
Alternative forms of measuring a country’s success began with the small Asian nation of Bhutan. In 1972, King Jugme Singye Wangchuck declared happiness to be more important than GDP. The development of the economy and the nation’s well-being needed to be balanced. The Kingdom and government had a responsibility to each person’s economic success and growth of happiness.2
Bhutan developed its Gross National Happiness Index (GNHI) in the early 2000s. It is based on four pillars or dimensions: good governance, sustainable socioeconomic development, cultural preservation, and environmental conservation. Formally adopted as a developmental indicator as part of Bhutan’s constitution in 2008, the GNHI requires that all laws and policies enacted must positively impact its dimensions and indicators.
This approach focuses on taking care of each other, not just taking care of me; a moral commitment to all persons, not just the wealthy and privileged. Certainly this approach is contrary to American exceptionalism and individualism, cornerstones of our way of life. What would happen if any economic-type law required that poverty be reduced? That fewer people live without health insurance? That evictions be minimal? That spending for education be equal in every school district?
The GNHI doesn’t measure happiness per se; rather, the survey samples the lives and views of citizens in nine major and equally weighted domains:
Within each domain there are indicators, 33 for the nine domains. Objective indicators are given more weight than subjective ones. For example, psychological well-being includes life satisfaction, positive emotions, negative emotions, and spirituality. Cultural diversity and resilience measure how many speak the native language, cultural participation, artistic skills, and Dragan Narnzha (Code of Discipline and Conduct).3 Such a comprehensive and scientific approach is not supported by many folks in the United States, especially politicians and the wealthy. For many of them, it’s monetary. Consider how the “good governance” provision might be evaluated against the recent questions about the ethics of our Supreme Court justices.
Happiness of the Bhutanese is deemed present with a score of 66% of the weighted indicators. Perfect happiness for all people would be 1.0. In 2010, the GNHI was .743. In 2015, it was .756, an 18% increase. In 2015, deeply happy persons comprised 8.4% of the population, extensively happy 35%, narrowly happy 47.9%, and unhappy 8%. Men were happier than women, urban happier than rural, and more educated happier than less educated. What’s resulted from these measures of happiness?
To date, changes in Bhutanese society are evident from the focus on well-being in addition to economic progress.
Quite an accomplishment. I think of Native Americans on reservations and poor Blacks and Hispanics in the south, many of whom still lack basic necessities like water wells, electricity, educational facilities, and healthcare centers. How sad and pathetic for the United States! How is equality possible when so many children start their lives without the key ingredients that lead to success? Equality is an empty term because the United States doesn’t practice what it preaches.
The United Nations and many countries – unfortunately and, not surprisingly, not including the United States – have developed a model of economic development promoting life satisfaction. As a result of the work of the Bhutanese, the United Nations adopted Resolution 65/309, leading to a 2012 conference, Well Being and Happiness: Defining a New Economic Paradigm. Many governments committed themselves to advancing the well-being of their citizens; additionally, member states focused on consideration of new economic development paradigms.4
As a result of this conference and work by academics, scientists, and government leaders; multinational organizations began measuring well-being and happiness, and many countries began developing policies to support the growth of well-being and happiness while achieving economic progress. Since then, numerous indexes of well-being and happiness for the world’s countries are being utilized. The progress of the United States is not impressive!
The first World Happiness Report (WHR), in 2012, was an outgrowth of the work in Bhutan. Developed by a group of academics, the WHR is published by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network and powered by Gallup World Data. It examines six dimensions:
A seventh measure, dystopia, examines how one’s life compares to a country with the lowest scores.5 The 2023 report collected data in 2020-2022 from individuals in 137 different nations. The ten happiest countries were Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Israel, Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and New Zealand. All of these countries have capitalist economies; none are socialist. The United States ranked 15th.
The U.S. did not score in the top five in any of the six dimensions. For me, this is an example of “American exceptionalism,” our “specialness,” but not in a positive way; exceptional in that the U.S. believes it is a guiding light for other countries, yet scored miserably. I wish we were exceptional by being #1 or in the top five economically and in well-being. Just a dream at this point in my life.
The U.S. was 8th in GDP per capita, 25th in social support, 69th in health life expectancy, 71st in freedom to make choices, 30th in generosity, 101st in perceptions of corruption, and 28th in dystopia. What is disturbing and pathetic about these rankings is that the U.S. spends more per capita on healthcare than any other country, yet we are 69th. Four of the ten happiest countries were in the top ten for GDP; the remaining six of the happiest countries were not. Thus a high GDP, so valued by the United States, does not lead to happiness and well-being.6 What explains the fact that eight of the ten happiest countries are in central and northern Europe?
The international Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) develops policies to improve lives in areas from health to life satisfaction. In 2011, it developed a Better Life Index to measure well-being and progress (11 major dimensions include income and wealth, working and job quality, housing, health, knowledge and skills, environmental quality, subjective well-being, safety, work-life balance, social connections, and civil engagement). The 2020 edition measured over 80 major and minor indicators in relation to the 11 dimensions for 37 member and 4 partner countries in 2018 (prior to Covid).7
Overall, life improved for many in the world between the annual surveys, though issues for all countries remained. The United States did well in the following areas:
The U.S. did moderately well in the following areas:
The U.S. did poorly in the following areas:
These results were obtained before the Covid pandemic, which would have caused many of the positive areas to tank along with areas of only moderate strength.8 But these results are in line with the results of the Happiness Index.
Why are other countries so much higher than the U.S.? Perhaps because those capitalist governments believe that providing basic supports – housing, healthcare, education, safety, social supports – for all citizens is a primary societal and governmental responsibility. Clearly, the countries with the best life satisfaction and happiness are equally concerned about the well-being of their citizens and their economic success (most of the top countries had poverty rates half that of the U.S.). Happiness and a high GDP can coexist and feed each other, if well-being and happiness are a priority along with economic success.
While a large GDP per capita might translate, in theory, as economic success along with adequate housing and clean air, those factors may not matter in a country where citizens don’t feel safe, are dissatisfied with life and not connected, can’t accumulate wealth, and expect to live a shortened life. Most importantly, even the positive elements in the U.S. are not shared equally by all citizens, given differences in education, sexual orientation, and race/ethnicity. Poverty rates among people of color are significantly higher than those of Whites, with concomitant poorer healthcare and education opportunities. Inequality reigns in the U.S.
Unlike other countries that actively measure the many factors that lead to life satisfaction and happiness, we continue to focus largely on economic measures to gauge our success. At some point, government (at all levels), NGOs, and other influential organizations need to take notice that life satisfaction and well-being are as important as economic well-being. The United States needs to measure and report happiness and life satisfaction along with GDP and inflation numbers. Well-being and life satisfaction need to become goals of every law passed by our legislative bodies. Only then will well-being become a reality for all.
At some point and at some level, we citizens must compel leaders to take notice and create a dual focus on economics and well-being. Each of us – all of us – needs to feel a responsibility to all citizens, not just to ourselves. Our core belief in individualism is both a boon and a curse. Individualism can promote individual responsibility and achievement, but also prevents us from ensuring that our actions promote equal access to the basics of life that only a few enjoy.
So, as I visit Bhutan, I will savor the experience that somewhere in this world, promoting happiness and life satisfaction is important and a reality. I will continue to promote the idea that communality – caring for all – must trump the idea of individualism, which only promotes individual responsibility without providing the basic tools for individual success. I will continue to believe that until all of us promote real equality of opportunity, the dream espoused by our founders will never be realized.
 Mike Todt, Ph.D. Mike is enjoying retirement while he continues to work on issues involving homelessness and affordable housing in Durango, Colorado. As a student of Buddhism, his priority remains to promote compassionate action as well as facilitate compassionate action in public officials. He reports not always being successful, but he won’t give up). Prior to retirement, Mike was a clinical psychologist, history professor, hospital CEO, and management consultant/executive coach. Throughout his career, Mike worked to make organizations more responsive and caring towards their employees and clientele. His most memorable and satisfying position was as a VISTA Volunteer in Miami in 1969. Mike holds two doctorates – in U.S. history and organizational psychology – and currently is learning to paint. His life goal of leaving the world better than he found it was learned in childhood. |
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