Opinion: The secret behind being the second happiest country in the world

Editor’s note: Emma Firth is a journalist and film producer of Danish and British descent who has lived and worked in both countries.She blogs at www.livingthedanishgene.com The views expressed in this comment are her own.read more opinions On CNN.

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The United Nations’ World Happiness Report, released last week, ranked Denmark the second happiest country in the world for the sixth consecutive year. Denmark is just behind Finland, which has held the top spot for the seventh year in a row.

It may be tempting to think that Denmark will always be a runner-up. But that probably means you don’t understand the Danes’ way of thinking.

Danish people have a way of reconstructing situations that others may consider less than ideal. Authors Jessica Joel Alexander and Eben Dising Sandahl pick up on this idea in their book How to Raise a Child in Denmark, describing Danes as “realistic optimists.” Simply put, Danes are taught to reframe negative situations into positive ones.

For example, headlines about the World Happiness Report do not focus on the fact that Danes once again came in second place after Finland, but on the fact that Denmark came first in the over 60 category. focused. And news reports do not focus on the fact that Finland is once again in the ascendancy, instead emphasizing that the gap between the two countries is smaller this year than last.

Denmark achieved an overall score of 7.586 this year. Finland was slightly higher at 7.804. These scores are calculated primarily based on the Gallup World Poll. The poll asked about 100,000 people in 130 countries to rate their lives on a scale of 0 to 10. 0 is the worst life and 10 is the best life.

The Happiness Report averages numbers from people surveyed in each country over the past three years. This year’s rankings are based on public opinion polls conducted between 2021 and 2023. Data is also analyzed in terms of a country’s GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption.

Meanwhile, the United States fell out of the World Happiness Report’s top 20 for the first time in 12 years, dropping to 23rd place, largely due to a drop in satisfaction among 30-year-olds. And younger.

When I asked Katarina Rakmund, a senior analyst at the Danish Institute for Happiness, what makes Finland happier than Denmark, she jokingly answered, “Sauna.” According to Visit Finland, Finland has 3 million saunas for a population of 5.5 million people, as well as 188,000 lakes and forests covering 75% of the country. And the Northern Lights can be seen about 200 nights a year from Lapland, where Santa Claus lives. There are many things she likes.

But scientifically, the differences between Denmark and Finland are “so slight that you can’t really point to them,” Rackmund said. After all, there’s a reason why Denmark has held the title of the happiest country in the world three times in the past. What Denmark and Finland have in common, as Rakmund told me, is a welfare system that “allows you to fail.”

If you lose your job in Denmark, you can receive support through unemployment benefits. If you get sick, you don’t have to worry about the cost of treatment or the quality of treatment. You can take a full year off from work to care for your new baby, then return to work with a 75% state-funded child care facility. Education is free, including at universities where students receive a monthly state subsidy for living expenses. Public housing, abortion rights, and unions are so strong that we don’t need a national minimum wage.

Trust in public institutions leads to a society of trust. It’s a great trust, but the daycare my toddler attended didn’t have a key. When she took a nap, it was outside in a stroller with a monitor. The school playground is open to the public and children as young as 9 are trusted to walk to school on their own.

Family is also important to Danes. My 80-year-old Danish relative thinks that’s why older generations topped this year’s happiness report.

“Families are very close-knit in Denmark, and many older people are happy about that,” he told me. That sense of unity is Hygge — It can be defined as casual time spent with loved ones.

Another Danish word for a similar concept is: Pheles. Literally translated, it means “shared,” but it encompasses the concept of unity, and is used in the following ways: Lazy“eating together in the community” initiative, Faresang“Community Song.”

These are great, authentic Danish ideas, but that doesn’t mean we think Danes should take the top spot in the World Happiness Report. Even if there were 3 million saunas. “I’m very happy that I didn’t come in first place. It means that we can’t all be happy,” one of my Danish relatives told me with the dry humor typical of the national character. Told.

There’s more to know about Danes. They are notorious for being very self-deprecating. They stoically adhere to an unspoken social code called Jante Law, a concept actually observed throughout Scandinavia that prevents individuals from thinking too highly of themselves. Understatement and humility are admired, even if there is a degree of conformity. That also applies to national aspirations. The Danes don’t need a score to show they’re in good shape, they already know that. Why rub your neighbor’s nose?

So, back to the World Happiness Report, Finland is always the runner-up. Denmark was named the happiest country in 2012, 2013 and 2016 and could take the top spot again someday. But until that time comes, let me introduce you to another deeply Danish concept.

it has to do with words pit,(pronunciation Pido), was chosen by lexicographers as Denmark’s favorite word several years ago. A rough English translation might be, “Don’t worry, something will happen.” Maybe I’ll be told that with a shrug and a slight smile. This is similar to the concept that English speakers refer to as “water off a duck’s back.”

This allows the Dane to accept his second place situation without too much upset.