World Happiness Report 2024: India ranks 126th out of 143 nations; old Indian women most satisfied

Image for representational purposes only. Photo Courtesy: Freepik

In the recently released World Happiness Report 2024 on the occasion of International Day of Happiness observed on March 20 every year, Finland topped the list of the happiest countries in the world for the seventh consecutive year.

The top 10 happiest countries in the world, according to the report are, Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, Israel, Netherlands, Norway, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Australia.

World Happiness Report is a global happiness index that releases in-depth data on factors that contribute to human well-being, the happiness ratings of countries and the significance of measuring happiness.

This year, India ranked 126th out of 143 nations retaining its rank from 2023. It must be noted that in 2023 India ranked 126th position out of 136 countries, making it one of the least happy countries in the world. In 2022, India ranked 136th position out of 146 countries.

According to the report that was collated by a partnership of Gallup, the Oxford Wellbeing Research Centre, the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and the WHR's Editorial Board, India is behind Pakistan, Libya, Iraq, and Palestine.

In a surprising revelation, the report states that older age is associated with higher life satisfaction in India. It mentions, "On average, older men in India are more satisfied with life than older women but when taking all other measures into account, older women report higher life satisfaction than their male counterparts."

India's older population is the second largest worldwide, with 140 million Indians aged 60 and over, second only to its 250 million Chinese counterparts.

As per the report, it was found that older adults in India with secondary or higher education and those of higher social castes experienced higher life satisfaction than counterparts without formal education and those belonging to the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes.

This life satisfaction is determined by three major predictors: living arrangements, perceived discrimination, and self-rated health.

The report also mentions that empirical research on gender and life satisfaction in later life has yielded mixed findings. Some studies have found older women report higher life satisfaction than older men, others have found older women to report lower life satisfaction than their male peers, and yet others observed no significant gender difference in life satisfaction. In the present study, older women in India have higher levels of life satisfaction than older men.

This is somewhat surprising given that women are exposed to more everyday life stressors (e.g., workplace discrimination; secondary social status within families and society at large) and are considered to be more susceptible to them.

Likewise, research has reported on the role of education, marital status, religion, depression, and physical activity and exercise play in gender differentials in life satisfaction.

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One factor that may contribute to older women's greater life satisfaction relative to older men is social resources, namely social support. Women, in general, possess wider and more diverse social networks, including a greater number of friends and confidants which likely translates into not only more social support but diverse forms of it.

Men, alternatively, report fewer intimate social relationships and mostly rely on their spouses for support with far fewer people they deem to be their confidants. Older women in India, especially of older cohorts, also may have invested more in building and maintaining family ties (e.g., organising gatherings, writing holiday and birthday cards, and doing physical and emotional care work) while older Indian men may have shouldered the responsibility of building family finances.

Gendered division of labour of this nature may explain differences in support later in life, which may reflect gender differences in life satisfaction with older women reporting to be more satisfied with life than their older male peers.

In the global ranking of happiness in the old (aged 60 and above), India ranks 121st out of 143 nations. Likewise, in the global ranking of happiness in the young (aged below 30), India ranks 127th out of 143 nations. This clearly indicates that the senior citizens of the country and happier and experience life satisfaction more than the country's youth as of 2024.

With inputs from the World Happiness Report 2024.