Is Europe a laggard? Comparing the EU and the US using an interdisciplinary well-being framework

Annegeke Jansen, Ranran Wang, Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, Paul Behrens and Rutger Hoekstra

Abstract

Well-being is increasingly recognized as a more meaningful measure of societal progress than economic output, yet most international comparisons continue to emphasize economic indicators. This focus has reinforced the perception that Europe is lagging behind the United States, with the productivity gap shaping the European Commission’s recent competitiveness agenda. Here, we compare European and American development from 1990–2023 using an interdisciplinary well-being framework that integrates five scientific schools of thought. We find that while the US increasingly outperformed the EU on productivity and income, the EU caught up in terms of various well-being indicators, including life satisfaction and education, while increasingly outperforming the US in life expectancy and safety. Europe also exhibits more equitable well-being outcomes and achieves them at lower environmental cost. However, in both regions, the conditions underpinning future well-being are under increasing pressure. These results challenge the dominance of economic metrics in evaluating progress and emphasize the need for inclusive development strategies that place sustainable well-being at their core.