Science Writing, 5 Sep. The generosity of welfare policies is positively associated with happiness within a country, according to a study carried out with data from ten European countries published today by PNAS.
The team studied possible social determinants of happiness by comparing changes recorded in surveys between 1981 and 2018 with changes in economic conditions, social capital, government welfare policies, and environmental quality.
The results note that only changes in welfare policies, such as unemployment insurance, pensions and health insurance, were “significantly associated” with changes in happiness over time.
In the last five decades, happiness has emerged as a research topic in the social sciences and a potential target of public policy.
In Europe, the differences between the ten countries analyzed, including Spain, in the general change in happiness since the early 1980s have been mainly due to the generosity of welfare state programs.
Thus, “increases in happiness are accompanied by increases in generosity and decreases in happiness are accompanied by decreases in generosity,” write the team, led by Richard Easterlin of the University of Southern California.
Changes in the generosity index can affect a person’s happiness, regardless of whether or not they collect benefits. Thus, those with a job do not collect unemployment insurance, but knowing that help is available if necessary “removes a source of anxiety and makes them happier,” the study adds. EFE
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