Icelanders are almost as happy now as they were before the economic crisis hit. This is the finding of a new survey carried out by the Directorate of Health on the effect of the economy on people’s health and their daily lives. The results will be formally announced today at a conference on the welfare of Icelandic children and opportunities in times of crisis.
At the very beginning of the crisis in October, the Directorate of Health conducted a survey on the health and mental state of Icelanders aged 18-80, mbl.is reports. 1,200 people were chosen from the national registry and around 60 percent of them decided to take part in the research, which was carried out again in January and June this summer.
“Although some are negative, the vast majority are feeling positive. The average happiness of Icelanders in the three recent surveys is 7.8 on a scale of 1-10 and the average was around 8 before the crisis. The 2003 European average was 7.2. We’re not all breaking down. We are still way over the European average,” says Dora Gudrun Gudmundsdottir, head of the Directorate of Health.
Author Eric Weiner famously named Iceland as the happiest place on earth last year in his book Geography of Bliss – a decision he has defended since the economic problems hit in October saying Icelanders thrive on adversity and that an element of struggle might actually enhance happiness.
“We are still way over the European average”
Why then you want to join Europe? Do you still want?
To become European average. And that is supposed to make Icelanders more happy :-) At least those few who will get nice job in Brussels…
you forgot Strasbourg, Alexander =P
Yeah sure, so if you are not happy , WTF is wrong with you !! , dont you read the statistic’s?
)o( Report
ja ja ja, icelandic happy people… please!! It doesn`t seem too. Are more agresive and they never smille. Are you living here?
I am sure the survey started off with. “Have you lost your job as a result of the crisis?”
If the answer is “yes” then,
“So sorry, thank you much for your time.”
If the answer is “no” then,
“Do you have time to answer a few short questions of a survey?”
Surveys always say whatever you want them to say. What is minister Dora Gudrun Gudmundsdottir supposed to say? She cannot very well go in and say that the Icelandic people’s “happiness” as a nation is at an all time low. If she did she might become one of those unemployed.
The people in my neighborhood at least are not so happy. Mind you they are not depressed either. More like content to wait until the next shoe drops. Of course they are hoping it does not land on them.
Iceland is not listed here so I don’t know what people are so happy about:
http://www.apple.com/iphone/countries/
Tim66n: it seems like some of the numbers come from the World database of happiness:
http://worlddatabaseofhappiness.eur.nl/hap_nat/nat_fp.php
Maybe people are not that unhappy because they did realize the situation before the crisis was not healthy.
Mike said
“Maybe people are not that unhappy because they did realize the situation before the crisis was not healthy.”
Exactly what i believe, but the worst is still to come, not just for Iceland.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2ff024fa-9271-11de-b63b-00144feabdc0,s01=1.html?nclick_check=1