World Happiness

      This article is right away states that happiness isn't easy to measure. This is because happiness doesn't consist of numbers that are easily added and subtracted. Happiness is abstract and measured differently from person to person. Although places like Bhutan have tried to measure their happiness with their Gross National Happiness survey, there are many different things that contribute to happiness. Sure, money is one factor, but when taking in account the whole country, its much more than that.

      Surely one can see that different countries are bound to have different amounts of happiness. Clearly happiness will be different in America than it would be in Russia. People in America who even don't have the most money will probably be happier than some of those in countries where they are oppressed or under a strict regime where they can't be completely free.

      Trust also improves or decreases happiness in countries around the world. In places like the US and the UK trust has dwindled. In other places such as Italy and Denmark, there is more overall trust which increases happiness.

      Unemployment can also diminish happiness. Not only does not having a job create sadness, but it takes away happiness in more ways than just not having money. One could become unhappier without a job due to the loss of social relationships in the office.

       Another big factor of happiness is marriage. Married couples tended to be happier than their single counterparts in most countries. Stable relationships and families contribute to happiness.


http://www.technovelgy.com/graphics/content07/map-of-world-happiness.jpg

This article on Co.Exist is reliable because first of all the Co.Exist has more reports and secondly toward the bottom of the article there is a summary of the author Ariel Schwartz, a senior editor at Co. Exist.
http://www.fastcoexist.com/1679633/the-world-happiness-report-explains-what-makes-people-happy