Wednesday, February 13, 2019

Canada’s Happiest People

Who are the happiest people in Canada? The answer may surprise you

The two slices of Canadian society that report the highest life satisfaction are teenaged boys and women over 70, according to Maclean’s magazine. It seems impossible to imagine two groups with less in common, yet they stand atop our country’s personal happiness leaderboard.

So what can they tell us about a happy life?

Women who reach age 70 are likely to be in relatively good health, which figures strongly in everyone’s happiness quotient. And while household income is not terribly important to seniors’ life satisfaction, according to Statistics Canada, poverty does contribute to unhappiness. Most importantly, senior women tend to have a deep and wide array of family, friends, and community relationships, including marriage, developed over their lifetime. A strong sense of belonging and accomplishment has a powerful effect on how people feel about their life, and elderly women seem to reap this benefit more than most.

Boys aged 15 to 19 are actually the happiest group in the country. They generally enjoy outstanding health and strong bonds with friends, but lack the long list of achievements and other relationships that provide satisfaction for older women. In fact, a rational view of their prospects suggests teenage boys ought to be significantly less happy, at least relative to young women.

John Helliwell, professor emeritus of economics at the University of British Columbia and a world-renowned happiness expert, notes that “the opportunities and performance of young women have increased dramatically compared to young men” in both education and the job market recently. According to another recent Statistics Canada report, “male students have . . . fared worse than their female counterparts since the last recession” in post-2008 employment.

Given the grim future facing many male teens in school and work, Helliwell suggests a diagnosis of “self-delusion” might best explain their resolutely happy outlook.

“Boys seem to be cool with how things are, and aren’t bothered by their performance,” he says.

But eventually, reality always intrudes. From their teenage pinnacle, both men’s and women’s life satisfaction declines sharply into adulthood, leading to the phenomenon of a u-shaped happiness curve.

“In the middle of life, a lot of competing demands show up all at the same time,” observes Helliwell, listing work, kids, a mortgage, and other grown-up obligations. A return to teenage levels of happiness typically doesn’t occur until these overlapping pressures are finally resolved in retirement and old age.

For Canadians navigating this inevitable dip in their happiness curve, Helliwell’s research offers some advice on how to survive those stressful middle years. Beyond good health and a sufficient income, the three biggest factors in improving feelings of well-being are to be found in a congenial workplace, a stable neighbourhood, and a successful marriage.

Canada’s Happiest People

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