Maintaining fulfilling relationships and maintaining good health would be the keys to happiness more than money. This is the result of a British study which would like to see governments favor this axis rather than a constantly economic struggle.
» Money does not buy happiness, it allows you to shop said Coluche. Being well surrounded and being in good physical and mental health is the real key to happiness. This is the conclusion of a study conducted by researchers from the prestigious London School of Economics, with the team in charge, Lord Richard Layard, professor at the famous establishment and former adviser to the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair. It is a study conducted jointly with the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) whose objective is to promote policies that will improve economic and social well-being throughout the world.
Together, they presented the results of a vast study on the « origins of happiness » and money would have only a small role to play in this quest. » The things that matter most to our happiness are our social relationships and our physical and mental health. », explains Lord Richard Layard. » This requires a new role for the State which is not to seek the creation of wealth, but to seek to create well-being « .
According to the professor, if a national policy focused on the fight against poverty would make it possible to reduce the ill-being of the population by 5%, measures to curb anxiety and depression would contribute to a 20% drop in negative feelings. Moreover, the researchers explain that focusing a policy on this would allow the government to achieve great savings by reducing the budget allocated to health expenditure.
Among the conclusions drawn by the researchers during their study, the fact that » income inequality explains only 1% of the variation in happiness in the community, while differences in mental health explain more than 4%. Education has a very small effect on life satisfaction compared to, for example, having a partner « . Too, » the most important factors in predicting a happy adult life are not children’s skills and abilities, but their emotional health. There is also compelling evidence that schools have a big impact on children’s emotional health. « .