The United Nations recently published the 2018 edition of its annual World Happiness Report, which aims to gauge a country’s happiness based on several factors, with the intention of using it as a guide for social development. It’s a lofty ambition, seeking to better the world by increasing its happiness, and the numbers can, admittedly, be a little daunting to look at. We’ve contextualized some of the data to gain a few insights on Filipino happiness and have come up with our own more digestible excerpts.
Here’s what we learned:
1. Filipinos are slightly happier this year than last year, but they feel slightly poorer.
Based on the 2018 report, which measured respondents’ happiness ratings from 2015-2017, the Philippines went up a rank, from 72nd to 71st worldwide. However, while our happiness, in general, saw a tiny 0.094-point climb, two factors that contributed to our overall score—GDP per capita and generosity, or giving to charity—saw a small dip.
What this means is that the average Filipino feels like he is making less money, which in turn is the likely explanation for why he's also donating less of it to causes. Given that giving to charity is often correlated with feelings of happiness, the Philippines' ranking would likely be higher if we can bring those giving numbers up. An improved economy, and therefore increased charitable donations, should bring us closer to the likes of Spain and Canada.
2. We’re much happier now than we were 10 years ago.
One of the most interesting facts in the report is that the Philippines saw a dramatic improvement from previous studies. Between 2008 and 2018, the country gained 0.720 points on the scale, which ranked as the world’s 14th best improvement within that timeframe. That equated to a 31-rank climb from 2012, when we placed 103rd among participating countries.
So what happened? Some believe that the Philippines’ improved employment numbers were a significant factor in bringing the country’s score up, as the report identified unemployment as a major cause of emotional distress. At the time of the 2012 report, the unemployment rate was at around 24 percent, while the rate in July 2017 was a much more palatable 5.6 percent. It looks like the government’s drive to create more jobs between 2008 and 2018 was a big reason for our improved happiness ranking.
3. The biggest source of happiness worldwide is one’s support system…
The 2018 World Happiness Report measured happiness in six different categories: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. On average, the biggest contributor to happiness across all countries was Social Support, which is defined as “having someone to count on in times of trouble.”
The importance of having a good support system was underlined by the score of the Central African Republic, which ranked 155th among the 156 participating countries, and had no significant contribution at all from the social support scale. Having friends, family, or even a government that can act as a physical, emotional, and financial safety net is important.
4. …But our biggest source of happiness is the realization that it could be worse
It turns out, however, that perspective is an equally powerful contributor to happiness—and sometimes even stronger. All six measures of happiness were weighted against “Dystopia”, an imaginary country composed of all the lowest scores achieved per happiness measure. A country’s Dystopia score was gained by measuring the difference between its six happiness scores and the Dystopia’s, with the result being added to the overall ranking. In short, happiness is affected by how much better you feel your life is over someone else's.
In this year’s report, the Philippines’ biggest contributor to happiness was its Dystopia score, meaning our happiness was derived in a large part from the understanding that things could be worse. While this may seem like we’re reveling in schadenfreude, it’s perfectly normal—the highest-ranking countries tend to have similarly high Dystopia scores. In fact, two of the countries with the lowest Dystopia scores are in the bottom 15 overall: Botswana (146th) and Tanzania (153rd).
Why? All these scores are based on self-evaluations of happiness, which means that the people in these countries saw themselves as experiencing close to the global lows. Believing that it can’t get any worse actually makes you more likely to be less happy, so make sure you try to think positively.
5. Does lower familial interdependence mean greater happiness?
One of the most interesting relationships in the report is the connection between interdependent behavior and happiness. Countries that believe family members are responsible for the care of elderly relatives and early childcare tended to rank lower in overall happiness than countries that didn’t share their views on these support systems. The same was true for countries that had a greater percentage of its population living with parents: high-percentage countries like the Dominican Republic and Venezuela were all in the bottom half of happiness rankings, while low-percentage countries like Finland and Denmark ranked in the Top 10.
It should be noted, however, that both Finland and Denmark have high scores on the social support measure for happiness, so distance from relatives isn’t a likely contributor. Instead, it looks like knowing your relatives can take care of themselves makes a person feel less stressed, and therefore happier.
What does this mean for us? We need to make sure that our family members—both young and aging—are equipped for independence. Health and financial security in old age should be a major priority when making our life choices; not just for our own happiness, but for the rest of our relatives’ as well.
6. You’re as happy as the country you live in.
For the first time in the history of the study, the World Happiness Report chose to examine the happiness of migrants as more and more individuals relocate away from their native countries. According to results, most migrants scored similar happiness scores to those of their current country of residence, with more than 90 percent accuracy. That means that if you move to a country ranked higher than the Philippines, odds are that you’ll turn out happier, too.
It’s highly likely that many of the measures the report used to rate happiness are shaped by external factors determined by a country’s politics and culture. Freedom to make life choices, for instance, is as much a result of systems that create opportunity as it is having a support system that encourages independence. Perception of corruption is another scale that is heavily influenced by a country’s politics rather than the individual’s own mood. It’s no wonder, then, why many individuals tend to leave for greener pastures.
7. If you want to migrate for happiness, move to Canada.
Another determinant of migrants' happiness is how accepting their host countries are of foreigners. According to the report, countries that ranked higher on migrant acceptance also had higher happiness scores among migrants—in some cases, migrant happiness even scored higher than native-born happiness. High-acceptance countries also saw higher Future Life Evaluation scores for foreign residents, meaning migrants were generally more optimistic about their situation.
Iceland, New Zealand, and Canada were among the five countries that scored the highest on migrant acceptance, and all of them are ranked in the Top 10 for overall happiness. Canada, in particular, is a favorite destination for Filipino migrants; from 2006 to 2015, 321,742 Filipinos relocated to Canada, becoming one of the largest foreign-born populations in the country. The large Filipino community also makes it much easier to acclimate to the culture, making it one of the Philippines’ top choices for migration.
8. Having a member of the household migrate makes the people left behind more emotional.
Migration, however, tends to have a powerful emotional effect on the families left behind. According to the study, household members with relatives or loved ones living abroad tend to see an increase in Positive Affect, which is an average of how often a person has experienced happiness, enjoyment, and has smiled or laughed during the day. The increase is especially pronounced if the family receives remittances from abroad.
However, these households also see a net increase in Negative Affect, or the average of how often a person experiences sadness, worry, and anger throughout the day. The separation clearly causes sadness and worry, while anger may be experienced by family members who are not completely comfortable with an incomplete household. Taken with the findings on Positive Affect, it’s safe to say that families with members living abroad tend to experience higher highs and lower lows on an emotional level. If you’re considering migrating, consider this a caveat.
Happiness is, of course, an emotion much more complicated than what these numbers can tell us. However, the report does shine a light on certain trends that we can’t ignore, especially if we plan on staying happy. Think of the statistics as guidelines for the pursuit of happiness, outlining goals both short-term and long-term, with a degree of predictability you wouldn’t have had otherwise. At the very least, it gives us a clue on what helps us achieve a lasting sense of happiness; all that’s left now is to act on it.
