Why danes are so happy

They appreciate the safety net of their welfare state, the way most things function well in their country, and all the free time they have, but they tend to approach the subject of their much-vaunted happiness like the victims of a practical joke waiting to discover who the perpetrator is.

The happiness argument does come in handy sometimes, I guess. It might put a burden on you to help me.

And because our expectations are so extremely low at the beginning of the year, they tend to get met more easily. Low expectations? It is true that, when asked how they expect the next year to pan out, the Danes do typically expect less than the rest of us, and when their low expectations are fulfilled, so are they.

Perhaps Danish happiness is not really happiness at all, but something much more valuable and durable: contentedness, being satisfied with your lot, low-level needs being met, higher expectations being kept in check. It is a thin line indeed between relaxed and smug. The Danes do have a remarkably relaxed approach to life, which, I admit, I have sometimes interpreted as immense self-satisfaction, but they do have a great deal to teach us about not taking life too seriously.

According to much of the prevailing anthropological, political, social, and economic thought, the Gini Coefficient—a statistical method for analyzing the distribution of wealth in a nation—is the silver bullet that goes directly to the heart of not just how equal a society is, but how happy and healthy its people are likely to be.

It is, if you like, the very sum of human happiness. I asked epidemiologist Richard Wilkinson, the author of The Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone , if he thought there might perhaps be any downsides to the low Gini countries.

All those lists of the best cities to live in are always made up of places with clean streets, cycle paths, and touring productions of Phantom of the Opera , like Bern or Toronto; it is never the really scintillating, stimulating places like New York or Barcelona. As soon as I asked the question, though, I realized that, compared with the social ills examined in The Spirit Level — crime, teenage pregnancy, obesity, cancer, and suicide—a lack of decent street food and interesting graffiti were hardly serious complaints.

A surprising number of Danes agree with me, though: They also think their homeland is stultifyingly dull. We wear the same clothes, shop in the same places, see the same TV, and struggle to know who to vote for because the parties are so alike.

We are purchasing quality of life. If you lose a job in Denmark, it's not necessarily a big deal. In fact, unemployment is built into the system. Thanks to something called the "flexicurity model," employers in Denmark have a lot more freedom to fire employees because there are government programs to retrain workers and better position them for the job market.

Russell says that strong unions also provide a guaranteed safety net, giving unemployment benefits for up to two years. Denmark also has one of the most generous retirement systems in the world, providing for the plus population through a combination of a state-funded pension and private, employer-funded pension programs. Again, when you're not constantly worried about how you're going to afford your retirement, you're going to feel less anxious and more secure.

In other words, happier. If Danes worked all 52 weeks a year, that would average out to only 27 hours a week, but since most Danish employers offer at least five weeks of paid vacation, Russell says that the real number is closer to 33 hours a week. Still, 33 hours a week? On the topic of parental leave, Denmark again has one of the most generous policies in the world. The government requires all employers to offer up to 52 weeks of leave — for either mother or father — and the state provides monetary support for up to 32 weeks.

For all of the time off that Danish workers take, economic productivity doesn't seem to suffer. Russell credits a different workplace culture. Danes don't waste time at the office on Facebook," Russell says. There's an unwritten law in Danish culture called Janteloven or "Jante's law," based on a popular satirical novel from the s. The spirit of Janteloven is "don't act like you're better, smarter or richer than anyone else.

Although Janteloven has lost some of its grip in cosmopolitan Copenhagen, Russell says, it's still very much lived by average Danes you might even argue that being "average" is the goal. No one is better than anyone else. Everyone is equal," says Russell, adding that you don't see even wealthy Danes driving fancy cars or living in ostentatious houses.

Not only are there fewer outward signs of success or struggle, but failure in Denmark isn't a four-letter word, Russell says. Some experts wonder whether Danes are under too much pressure to show the rest of the world how to live. Scandification explores and celebrates the magic of Scandinavia. To advertise your brand to a global audience, contact our advertising team below. I consent to the privacy policy and terms and conditions. November 12, Trending Trending. Now Week Month.

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