“I think the evidence is quite clear … you’re far more likely to be happy if you live in a welfare state,” he said. Soren Harno Clausenis Professor of Philosophy at the Department of Cultural Studies, University of Southern Denmark.
Although there are both pros and cons to this system, overall There’s more financial freedom. Education, including college, healthcare and nursing home care are free, Clausen said.
In addition, the basic needs of all elderly Danish citizens are met through pensions from the government. Lars LarssonProfessor in the Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences at Aarhus University.
The lack of these measures often hampers the independence of older people in many countries, but this is not the case in Denmark, Clausen said. “And for the age group of 60 to 75 years, it is much less so.”
Additionally, Larsen said Denmark is economically strong, has a long life expectancy and low corruption levels, which also leads to a high level of happiness for people.
“Another thing that’s really important is that happiness equality is high,” Larson said. “It’s more difficult to be happy if others are not happy and that’s why we see some of the rich nations not scoring as high as you might expect.”
This means that even if you are rich and live in a rich country, your own happiness may be low if you see a group of people who are not doing well and no one is doing anything to change it, Larson said. This may be the reason why the United States never comes out on top of these lists. “Simply because people are not equal and they cannot rely on welfare if they are not doing well,” he said.
Although there are certain social and cultural norms that create a high level of happiness for people throughout Denmark, this does not mean that everyone in Denmark is happy.
“Below this overall national happiness, of course, you find many individual differences, and even if they grow up in really good circumstances, someone could still have an accident, or they could have a mental illness, for example, and of course that would affect their happiness,” Larson said.
