This is a question that I am told is often asked. In the seven ages of man in William Shakespear’s As You Like It, the later stages of life are portrayed as deeply depressing. Certainly, in the West, the received wisdom is that the young are the happiest people, and that happiness thereafter declines until middle age, followed by a substantial recovery in later years. In fact in North America the young are less happy than the old. This is also true in Western Europe. By contrast, happiness at every age has risen sharply in Central and Eastern Europe, so that young people are now equally happy in both parts of Europe. In the former Soviet Union and East Asia there have been large increases at every age; while in South Asia and the Middle East and North Africa happiness has fallen at every age.
As far as the happiest nations in the world is concerned, according to the 2024 World Happiness Report, the happiest countries are Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and Israel, with Finland consistently ranking as the happiest for the seventh year in a row. The next three happiest countries are the Netherlands, Norway, and Luxembourg. The United Kingdom is the 20th happiest country in the world.
What are the factors which contribute to happiness? The scholars who wrote the 2024 Happiness Report observed data on six areas which are said to create happiness. These six areas related to the average amount of money received by individual citizens, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and corruption. Sadly, in terms of the average amount of money British citizens enjoy, there is a good deal of inequality – indeed, the UK has a very high inequality of income compared to other developed countries. On the other hand British citizens enjoy free access to its health services, as also do the citizens of Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland Japan, and Norway. The UK is also one of the least corrupt countries in the world, and in the last 50 years the judiciary is totally free of corruption: by contrast, a few British politicians – particularly those involved in local councils – are influenced in their decision-making by ‘backhanders’ of one kind or another.
As far as the various religious groups are concerned, some studies suggest that Christians (both Protestants and Roman Catholics) and Buddhists are the happiest religious groups, although other studies argue that Muslims have the highest life satisfaction. Interestingly, in terms of marital happiness, surveys indicate that Christians have the greatest marital satisfaction.
But happiness is more than having things such as plenty of money, free health care, and all the other factors that relate to the various happiness surveys. True happiness ultimately does not depend on external factors, but relates to our relationship with God. Even when everything goes wrong and our world, as it were, falls apart, Christians can experience happiness. We see this in the so-called Beatitudes of Jesus, where according to the Good News Bible Jesus in Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount (Luke 6.20-20) declared:
Happy are you poor; the Kingdom of God is yours.
Happy are you who are hungry now, you will be filled!
Happy are you who weep now, you will laugh!
Happy are you when people reject you, insult you, and say that you are evil, all because of the Son of Man!
We see again that happiness does not depend on external factors in Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. At the time the apostle Paul was in prison, yet this letter breathes a joy and confidence that can be explained only by Paul’s deep faith in Jesus Christ. So, even at that stage Paul could write: “Rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice”! (Philippians 4.4). Then John in exile on the island of Patmos received a vision in which the angel said: “Write this: happy [NRSV: ‘Blessed’] are those who have been invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb” (Revelation 19.9).
Yet there are times when Christians are understandably not at all happy. When a loved one has succumbed to dementia or to some painful illness, or when a loved one has died, inevitably Christians are sad. The same is true when they lose their jobs or a child goes, as it were, ‘off the rails’. Nonetheless, a key positive factor is that no Christian needs to be alone – rather they are surrounded by brothers and sisters in the faith who support them not just with their prayers but also in being just ‘there’ for them. In situations like this Christians may not be happy, but they are content in the knowledge that God cares for them and is with them as they go through the darkest of valleys.
In my judgement, Christians if they focus on Jesus are actually the happiest people on earth.