Viewing archives for Lord Prof. Richard Layard

How to tell if you are living below the wellbeing poverty line

The Independent

“Wellbeing and happiness are ultimately – there is no way around it – in the eye of the beholder,” says De Neve, who is the co-founder of the World Wellbeing Movement; a charity which, for the past three years, has commissioned an annual UK Wellbeing Report which aims to assess the nation’s level of wellbeing by collating key UK data.

And, while there are many objective factors – such as physical and mental health, education, and income – that contribute to an individual’s wellbeing, the metric for assessing it couldn’t be simpler: asking people, on a scale of zero to 10, how satisfied they are with their life these days.

2026 UK Wellbeing Report

Maria Cotofan, Richard Layard, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve and Ben Wealthy

Abstract

After nearly a decade of steady-increases in national wellbeing, since 2020 the UK has experienced the largest drop in life satisfaction since records began. In 2025, life satisfaction across the country continues to stagnate in England, Wales and Scotland, but Northern Ireland experiences a stronger recovery. Across the country, 1 in 8 adults still live below the Happiness Poverty Line and only 1 in 4 adults live above the Flourishing Line – the same number as in our previous report. For the first time, we also show that these trends are also strongly related to whether people support the government, vote for the government, or participate in elections. When comparing UK regions over time, higher wellbeing relates to stronger support for the incumbent government, a higher vote share for the government, and higher election turnout. In a horse-race with household income and unemployment, wellbeing measures typically matter as much as – and in some cases more than – these key economic indicators.

Social media makes people unhappy — World Happiness Report

Deutsche Welle

The report said that heavy social media use is linked to declining well-being among young people, particularly teenage girls in English-speaking and Western European countries.

The findings come as governments increasingly consider restrictions on social media use by minors.

Researchers said extensive social media use, especially more than seven hours per day, is associated with lower well-being, with algorithm-driven, image-focused platforms and influencer content cited as key factors.

Instagram worse for mental health than WhatsApp, global study finds

The Guardian

Social media apps such as Instagram and TikTok, which encourage algorithm-driven scrolling, are worse for mental health than platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp, which prioritise social connection, according to an annual barometer of global happiness.

The World Happiness Report found excessive use of social media was causing unhappiness among young people across the world, although the impact was worse in English-speaking countries and western Europe.

Overall happiness levels in the UK were at the lowest level since the report was first published in 2012.

The Anglosphere is increasingly miserable

The Economist

Why so glum? The divergence is starkest among the young. In most other parts of the world young people are at least as satisfied with their lives as they were a decade ago, if not more so. But among under-25s in America, Australia, Britain, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand, scores have fallen—placing all six among the biggest declines for this age group.

The world’s happiest countries revealed and what they get right

The Independent

Researchers noted that in some parts of the world, such as the Middle East and South America, the links between social media use and well-being are more positive — and youth well-being has not fallen despite heavy social media use.

The report said this is due to many factors that differ between continents, but concluded that heavy social media use in some countries is an important contributing factor to the decline in youth well-being.

It said the most problematic platforms are those with algorithmic feeds, feature influencers and where the main material is visual, because they encourage social comparisons. Those who use platforms that mainly facilitate communication do better.

The world’s happiest countries for 2026 – and what they get right

BBC Travel

While the Nordic countries have long dominated the World Happiness Report, 2026 brought one surprise. For the first time in the report’s 14-year history, a Latin American country made its way into the top five as Costa Rica continued its multi-year rise to fourth place, jumping from 23rd in 2023.

Social media making young people less happy, report finds

Al Jazeera

Social media has played a large role in declining happiness among young people in Western countries, a United Nations-backed report has found.

Heavy social media use partly explains a “worrying decline” in the wellbeing of young people in the West, the latest edition of the annual World Happiness Report said on Thursday.

The 25 Happiest Countries In The World, According To The 2026 World Happiness Report

Forbes

What’s striking is that this trend is not global. In most other parts of the world, young people are actually reporting higher levels of wellbeing than in the past.

“Most of the world’s young people are happier today than they were 20 years ago, and that’s a trend that deserves attention,” Jon Clifton, CEO of Gallup, said in a statement.

That divergence between English-speaking countries and the rest of the world is one of the most important findings in this year’s report—and may help explain why the U.S. continues to lag.

A Nordic nation is the world’s happiest country for the ninth year in a row

CNN

If happiness were an Olympic event, the Nordic countries would be guaranteed a spot on the podium.

Actually, all three spots on the podium.

According to the latest edition of the World Happiness Report, the three happiest countries in the world are Finland, Iceland and Denmark.