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Oh Happy Danes: Is It Really the Welfare Programs?

11/1/2013

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You may or may not have heard, but the people of Denmark are the happiest people in the world. Out of 156 countries ranked in the World Happiness Report, Denmark came in first with a score of 7.693 out of 10. Canada (7.477) was sixth while the United States (7.082) came in 17th. Cue the Huffington Post to editorialize about the many splendours of the Danish welfare state. But is that really what makes Danes (somewhat) happier than Americans?
The World Happiness Report lists six factors that “explain three quarters of differences in life evaluations” between countries: GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and perceptions of corruption. The Huffington Post article makes a big deal of the fact that Danes have access to much longer parental leave than Americans, that they have access to free or low-cost child care, and that they “expect and receive health care as a basic right.” It’s enough to make you think that of the six factors, social support, which the article tries to link to such welfare programs, is the one that really gives Denmark the edge.

It isn’t. A quick glance at Figure 2.3 of the Report, which shows the complete rankings and how much the six factors each contribute to them, reveals that the only category in which Denmark clearly outshines the United States is the last one, perceptions of corruption. And anyway, the Report itself defines the social support factor this way: “Social support (or having someone to count on in times of trouble) is the national average of the binary responses (either 0 or 1) to the question ‘If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them, or not?’ ” No mention of how generous taxpayers are in paying for parental leave, child care, or health care. (No, it’s not included in the generosity factor either.)

Why do Americans perceive significantly more corruption in government and business than the Danish do? Is America really more corrupt, or are Americans just more suspicious? The Huffington Post article devoted exactly zero space to discussing the one explanatory factor of the six that was worth examining in this case. Mustn’t let the facts get in the way of a good story, after all.
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    Who Writes This

    Bradley Doucet is a Montreal writer and the English Editor of Le Québécois Libre.

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