Viewing archives for Prof. Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

Why single-item measures of wellbeing are best

John F. Helliwell, Richard Layard, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Lara B. Aknin and Shun Wang

Abstract

We argue that individual wellbeing is best captured by single self-reports of one’s overall quality of life. This approach is direct, efficient, globally comparable and distinguishes wellbeing from what might explain it.

We are writing, as the editors of the World Happiness Report 2025, in response to VanderWeele and Johnson, who argue that wellbeing cannot be effectively assessed using a single-outcome measure, and instead propose measuring multiple dimensions using a composite flourishing index. They have used such an index to compare the quality of life in different countries.

In our view, most of the individual factors that get combined in such an index are causes of wellbeing and not wellbeing itself. For example, self-ratings of health, finances, social relationships, religiosity and so on are critical to understanding why people feel the way they do. But, the resulting product is wellbeing — in other words, the quality of life as we experience it.

Falling wine sales reflect a lonelier and more atomised world

The Economist

In 2023 almost 25% of American adults ate every meal alone on a given day, up from 17% in 2003; among under-30s the share has nearly doubled. That pattern probably holds across much of the rich world, says Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, one of the editors of the World Happiness Report, an annual UN-backed study.

The consequences are measurable. Around one in six people worldwide is lonely, reckons the World Health Organisation. In 22 European countries the share of people who said they were “never lonely” fell from 59% in 2018 to 51% in 2022. The latest World Happiness Report found that across countries and ages, how often people share meals predicts life satisfaction almost as strongly as relative income or employment status.

The top global health stories from 2025

World Economic Forum

Investing in employee wellbeing could boost the global economy by $11.7 trillion, according to the Forum’s Thriving Workplaces report.

The COVID-19 pandemic put the spotlight on mental health and wellbeing at work, but one expert says “the pendulum is swinging back” now.

Professor of Economics and Behavioural Science at Oxford University, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, spoke with Radio Davos to explain why workplace wellbeing matters.

Bitesize research series highlights promising wellbeing interventions in schools

Researchers have highlighted some of the most promising pathways to improving wellbeing in schools in a new series of bitesize research reports.

An interdisciplinary team from the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, in partnership with the IB, have published a set of resources on five important wellbeing themes for students, teachers, and schools. The topics covered include:

Online interventions;
Peer relations (bullying);
Physical activity;
Teacher wellbeing;
And a whole school approach to wellbeing.

Researchers examined hundreds of peer-reviewed studies of wellbeing support in schools in order to identify some of the most promising evidence-based interventions.

While there is no one-size-fits-all approach to improving wellbeing in schools, the team have highlighted interventions which have been shown to boost levels of wellbeing in specific circumstances. They range from large-scale interventions trialled across countries, to smaller actions rolled out at a more local scale.

Resources are available both in a summary format (in English, French, and Spanish) and, for readers seeking further insight, as a number of detailed literature reviews (in English). An overview poster with key findings from all five reports, suitable for display in the classroom, is also available to download in English, French, and Spanish.

The mini reports serve as companion resources to two Wellbeing Research Centre reports previously published in partnership with the IB: Wellbeing in Education in Childhood and Adolescence (2022), and Wellbeing for Schoolteachers (2024).

Dr Laura Taylor, Deputy Director of the Wellbeing Research Centre at the University of Oxford, said: “Each child and each school environment is unique, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to improving wellbeing in schools. We highlight how school leaders can use research evidence, alongside crucial elements like staff and student voice activities, in order to support the wellbeing of their school community.”

All five research reports, plus further resources for schools, can be found at wellbeing.hmc.ox.ac.uk/schools.

How We Can Build Trust In Times of Division, with Jan-Emmanuel De Neve

What Do You Mean By That?

It’s not controversial to say that we are living in times of deep division, where there are so many forces keeping us apart, politics being a big part of that. But did you know that there’s a link between how satisfied you think you are with your life, how much you trust others, and how you vote? It’s a mind-blowing, less-discussed topic, despite being a chapter in the latest World Happiness Report. Importantly, to make a difference, we wonder this – how do we actually build trust with people who hold different viewpoints, especially if our first impulse is to block them, disregard their comments, or ignore them entirely?

We’re so glad today to have one of the co-authors of the World Happiness Report here to talk with us about how we can use our understanding of wellbeing and trust to build stronger communities, reconnect with each other, and also bridge the politics of division.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Slate

Shortly after I got home, I took a cramped and overpriced train up to Oxford, where the data scientists behind the World Happiness Report work. There, I met Jan-Emmanuel de Neve, a professor at Oxford University’s Harris Manchester College and expert in what makes life worth living. I felt I had got to the bottom of why Finnish people were happy, but now I wanted to, bluntly, know whether we were all doomed never to be as happy as our friends in the Nordics.

No one has office friends anymore. Why that’s bad news for employers

Fast Company

The impact of lost workplace friendships is often underestimated—especially in discussions about employee turnover. While it’s commonly believed that people mostly quit jobs in response to poor managers, Oxford professor Jan-Emmanuel De Neve has found that workers quit not because of leadership alone, but because they lack a sense of belonging with their teams. This reframes the issue: workplace friendships aren’t just about socializing—they’re critical for retention and sustainable business success.

Why are young adults in the English-speaking world so unhappy?

Financial Times

One of the most striking but under-discussed insights from this year’s World Happiness Report was that the marked worsening in young adult mental health over the past decade is primarily, if not exclusively, an Anglosphere phenomenon.

The share of young adults regularly experiencing stress and anger has risen sharply over the past 15 years in the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. But it has been largely stable elsewhere in the west, according to detailed data from the Gallup World Poll used in the report.

25% of young Americans aged 18 to 24 eat every meal alone—‘a virtual doubling of what it was two decades ago,’ expert says

CNBC

They found that in 2023, 25% of 18-to 24-year-olds ate all three meals alone the previous day.

“That’s a virtual doubling of what it was two decades ago,” De Neve says, and it’s to the detriment of their mental health. The number of meals shared with others is “as predictive of their life satisfaction, essentially their overall well-being” as their employment status or relative income, he adds.

Oxford MBA students explore the science behind wellbeing in a pioneering new elective