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Justice is a key to happiness
A new survey into happiness in Europe has found that countries reporting the highest levels of happiness also report the highest level of trust in their governments, the police and the justice system.
The European Social Survey into well-being began in 2002. Every two years it asks approximately 20,000 people to rate their happiness and life satisfaction. The scores from this survey are then cross-referred with results of a more extensive survey which asks questions ranging from "How religious are you?" to "How much do you personally trust the police?" This allows researchers to analyse not only where in Europe people feel happiest but also why.
People in Denmark were the happiest and most satisfied of the 15 European nations surveyed. Britain ranked 9th for happiness and 10th for life satisfaction. Its scores were slightly down on 2002.
The lead researcher commented "The most important factors influencing happiness appear to be the quality of our social interaction with others and the confidence we have in our country's institutions".
She went on to say "The countries that scored highest for happiness also reported the highest level of trust in their governments, laws and each other. The UK shows falling trust in government, the police and other institutions and higher social distrust, which might explain why the level of happiness amongst British people has also fallen".
According to the survey, neither wealth nor education make people happier. In countries where the population generally said that they trusted the government and other institutions, a high income made people happier still – but in those countries where such trust was lacking (such as Italy), even the very rich tended to be unhappy. The degree to which people had been educated had a similarly limited impact on their overall well-being.
In an era when the UK government seems intent on reducing access to justice, we hope that it takes note of this survey. And if it wants to secure the electorate's happiness, maybe its refrain should be not "education, education, education" but "justice, justice, justice".
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