HAPPIEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD

Dequito, T.E.M., Resguardo, R.V., Tabino, P.N. BABA1-G

What is your perception of happiness?

Happy (adj.)
: feeling pleasure and enjoyment because of your life, situation, etc.
: showing or causing feelings of pleasure and enjoyment

Hedonic Happiness (Aristippus)

 personal pleasure with the avoidance of pain, which focuses on pursuing money and buying
things that make you feel good, at least in the moment
 short-lived happiness fits in well with our materialistic, goal-oriented economy
 our purchase, or promotion, or love affair gives us a high, yet that high soon wears off, and we
are off chasing the next high

Eudaimonic Happiness (Aristotle)

 happiness comes from self-realization, and living a worthy and moral life in service to others and
the community
 “He is happy who lives in accordance with complete virtue and is sufficiently equipped with
external goods, not for some chance period but throughout a complete life. The contemplative
life is happiest.”

Cantril Ladder

(1) Finland (2) Denmark (3) Norway (4) Iceland

(5) Netherlands (6) Switzerland (7) Sweden

(8) New Zealand (9) Canada (10) Austria

PHILIPPINES: 69th Happiest Country

- Filipinos claim that we are among the happiest people on Earth but it is a misconception.
Rather, the truth is Filipinos are among those people who tend to smile the most. Filipinos easily
smile at foreigners — usually Americans and Europeans as the Philippines tend to have
internalized xenophobia — , hence, why they are easily perceived as happy from an outsider’s
point of view.

Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, theorizes that 60% of happiness is determined by
our genetics and environment and the remaining 40% is how we choose to respond.
HAPPIEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD
Dequito, T.E.M., Resguardo, R.V., Tabino, P.N. BABA1-G

Dan Buettner stated that there is no such thing as a happy place where everyone is magically smiling
and partying all the time. It takes work to create a really happy place, and it’s always the result of
enlightened leaders. About 50 to 150 years ago, enlightened leaders in today’s happiest places shifted
their focus from just economic development to policies that favored quality of life.

FINLAND: happiest country for 2 years in a row as of 2019

- Income Security Programmes:
 Social Insurance - provides income despite old age, illness, pregnancy, unemployment,
or work-related injuries
 Income Security classified as welfare - consists of income transfers to aid families
through measures such as child payments, maternity grants, payments to war victims
and their survivors, and financial aid to those afflicted by disability or pressing needs
- 70% of people aged 15 to 64 in Finland have a paid job
- 88% of adults aged 25-64 have completed upper secondary education
- The level of atmospheric PM2.5 (tiny air pollutant particles small enough to enter and cause
damage to the lungs) is 6.2 micrograms per cubic meter, considerably lower than the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development average of 13.9 micrograms per
cubic meter.
- started developing Health System as soon as declared an independent state in 1917
- educational system consists of compulsory 9 years’ worth of basic education and 3 years’ worth
of general upper secondary education or vocational education and training
 people with a completed vocational upper secondary qualification have the basic
vocational skills in a particular field and the professional competence required in the
practical work life
 There are no mandated standardized tests in Finland, apart from one exam at the end of
students’ senior year in high school. There are no rankings, no comparisons or
competition between students, schools or regions. Finland’s schools are publicly funded.
The people in the government agencies running them, from national officials to local
authorities, are educators, not business people, military leaders or career politicians.
Every school has the same national goals and draws from the same pool of university-
trained educators.
 “Equality is the most important word in Finnish education. All political parties on the
right and left agree on this,” said Olli Luukkainen, president of Finland’s powerful
teachers union.
- suicide rate was one of the highest but has lessened by over 25% as of 2000 - 2011
 The National Suicide Prevention Project 1986–1996
 The National Depression Programme 1994–1998 ‘KEEP YOUR CHIN UP!’
 The Meaningful Life Programme 1998–2003

IS THERE STILL HOPE FOR THE PHILIPPINES?

- Universal Healthcare bill
 provide a full spectrum of health services to individuals and communities, from health
promotion to prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and palliative care as well as
lessening the out-of-the-pocket expenses needed for healthcare needs
 applied to both inpatient and outpatient care and will cover the cost of medicine
(prescription drugs), diagnostic studies, vaccination, geriatric care, personal and
preventive services, rehabilitation services, and etc.
HAPPIEST PEOPLE IN THE WORLD
Dequito, T.E.M., Resguardo, R.V., Tabino, P.N. BABA1-G

 provide an improvement to government hospital facilities and further increase bed

capacities
- Mental Health Law (Republic Act 11036) was approved by President Duterte as of June 20, 2018
- Free Tuition Fee Law
 “The Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act” or Republic Act 10931 was
signed on August 3, 2017.
 waive school fees to provide an opportunity for every Filipino to earn a higher education
and a degree in State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) and Local Universities and
Colleges (LUC).
 900,000 Filipino students who enrolled in 112 SUCs for the academic year 2017-2018
benefited from the PHP8 billion Grant of Free Tuition in SUCs, while kindergarten
enrolment has increased from 65% in 2016 to 84% in 2017.
 Around 1.3 million students enrolled in SUCs and LUCs will finally enjoy free tuition and
miscellaneous fees beginning the academic year of 2018-2019 while 300,000 poor
students will also earn tertiary education subsidy apart from free tuition and
miscellaneous fees through CHED’s Unified Financial Assistance System for Tertiary
Education Act (UNIFAST).