Action for Happiness

Would I be happier if I won the lottery? Of course, who wouldn't?! But seriously, is happiness proportional to household income? What about people in poverty? Are they more miserable than middle-earners? And do high-flyers skip to work in the morning?

Action for Happiness was launched yesterday. It is based on a simple concept – that if we want a happier society, we’ve got to prioritise the things that really matter. And that is not necessarily money. However, if we stop using income as a measure of success I suspect we would not find that poor people are just as happy as rich people. Poverty is about a lot more than just lack of income.

Understanding Attitudes to Economic Inequality, a study conducted by the JRF with the Fabian Society in 2009 showed that when asked about their income, nearly everyone, rich or poor, places themselves in the 'middle' of the income spectrum. The explanation for this is probably that people tend to mix with people like themselves, similar lifestyles, houses, earnings, so they group themselves as being in the middle. When asked about the 'income gap' they interpreted that as the gap between the 'middle' and the 'super-rich'.

Is this because we are constantly bombarded with images of celebrities? Everything from MTV’s Cribs to Hello magazine depicts people with incomes that are impossible to achieve for the average person. And, as we found out at the recent JRF lecture, Is a happier society possible? – with Lord Richard Layard of Action for Happiness - we really measure happiness by comparing our own income to that of others.

Perhaps we would be better off if we were all closer to the middle of the income spectrum. The authors of The Spirit Level certainly make the case for a more equal society. They report that more equal societies have better health, education and social mobility. However, moving up the income ladder is how we generally assume we will be happier. It is going to take a big shift in social attitudes to change that.