2nd Unhappiest place to live. UK

[Newtonianmechanics]

m.economictimes.com/nri/latest-updates/uk-is-officially-the-worlds-second-most-miserable-country-these-were-the-happiest-and-unhappiest-countries-of-2023/amp_articleshow/108361220.cms

Clearly it isn't the most scientific test. However....

Unhappier than literal war zones.

Why is this?

Are we just a bunch of entitled grumps and grifters that lack resilience?

Or

Is it the cost of living crisis and the work work society? The disparity between rich and poor. The huge living costs and people not having spare money to fund fun despite earning well.
That things are getting worse not better or a number of other issues?
Childrens time being micromanaged to the nth degree. Too unsafe to play in the street like we used to. Constant pressure.

Why?

We know that belonging to a strong community which cares for and supports each other, celebrating the success and achievement of its members, is at the heart of happiness. We have lost that, hence the decline in mental health.

It’s actually fairly easy to build community back up. It’s free, doesn’t take that much effort but people need to have the will to do it.

I moved to UK in 2000 and loved it until about 2018 or so. I think it was a realisation that
a) weather is rubbish - I don't mind wet or cold but it is always grey.
b) no cohesiveness - society doesn't know what it wants. In poorer countries (where I'm from) people have to deal with real life stuff (real food poverty). Here people are comfortable, even when they don't know it, so the subjects such as trans issues are debated endlessly. In poor societies people don't have time for that, due to real pressing issues.
c) no social ties - at least where I live no one just pops around for drink at each other's, you have to arrange everything months in advance, neighbours are mostly keeping to themselves, no kids anywhere but all in clubs.
d) kids getting education that's one dimensional. There is no focus on real life skills or practical skills. I have no idea why kids have to stay in general education for so long. Much better model is to have primary 7-14 yo and then specialist secondary according what kids want to specialise in. Kids generally unhappy from quite a young age. I don't know why.
e) long working hours culture because you have to be seen to work long hours to progress, rather than do your work and go home.
Makes family time precious.

I agree with this.

I also think people's personal finances are a huge issue. And a feeling of powerless as the Government focus on fringe issues that aren't going to help most people (Rwanda, extremism etc).

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/mar/16/negative-budgets-cost-of-living-crisis-could-lose-the-tories-dozens-of-seats

Young people can't see how they are ever going to have houses and a family. Everyone working is getting more and more frazzled by the expectation to "do more with less" and there's no time to do the basic things humans need to make themselves feel better (mindfulness, connection, living in the moment).

Happiness =/= affluence and I can well see how people are happier in much poorer countries because they don't feel so ground down and hopeless in their day to day lives.

50 years ago, that's 1974!! I think you would have more opportunities to buy house than now for example, income to house ratio has more than doubled since the 1970s!

The period after the second world war until the early 1970s is often called the Golden age of capitalism and is when wealth and regional inequality was the lowest it had ever been in the 20th century and was lower than now in 2024! My family are working class on both sides and following the war all managed to buy homes, some managed to start their own successful businesses, my parents both went to university on grants, they worked abroad in the 70s, my Dad became an Economist and they bought a detached home in south west London and other parts of London by the time they were 27!

I think loneliness and isolation is a real problem which impacts people's mental health and general health. Anyone can be lonely, it's not just a problem for elderly people. When I was a lone parent with ds1 I used to cry with loneliness. I also had no family or friends. People don't live near their families so much now and there's no sense of community either. Human beings aren't supposed to exist alone.

We’ve had “austerity measures” for the last decade while it’s obvious some people are noticeably richer during the same period. I know my salary hasn’t kept pace with inflation and with price rises I’m effectively earning as much as 20 years ago, this is not uncommon especially in the public sector!

Our ridiculous social hierarchy, with Royals at the top, used to make us feel being British was a bit special because we mistook the class system for having “class”. Now even that is a shambles!

Add in the general feeling of being ripped off constantly as mentioned previously, and the false impression that we’re being invaded by boat people, plus the national idiocy of Brexit, and there you have it.

Being British no longer means we are globally influential, and hard work doesn’t necessarily improve quality of life. Meh.

A snapshot of the last four years would include lockdowns, the rise of a parallel life lived online with randoms rather than in real life, children and adults seeking company in their phone screens rather than real life conversations. Throw in a double, or even treble rise in the price of basic store cupboard food and it’s no wonder we’re depicted as a miserable place to live.

I also think the atomization of families plays a big part in all of this.

I attribute this to huge wealth inequality, ongoing effects of austerity, and the quality of life possible here for people in critical professions that are much better respected & enormously better remunerated in other ‘developed’ countries (nursing, medicine).

This might be more tolerable if if was possible to rely on being able to entertain yourself for free outdoors for any part of the year - but the awful weather + lack of accessible green space means most people on average or below average salaries are stuck indoors looking out at the drizzle from their tiny flats and houses more or less year-round.

Our current political landscape depends on hating everybody who isn't yourself. Immigrants, benefits claimants, Europeans, students, the unemployed, nuisance homeless people, woke snowflakes, disabled people who dare to need state money, non-British people, etc etc. it's not surprising we're miserable fuckers is it.

Lies. Damned Lies, Statistics.

Give me the numbers, tell me what you want to prove and I'll 'prove' it!

You omit white people from your hate list. Why's that?

Oh Iook here's one now. I omitted many things from my list. There are no racial categories on there at all are there? I wonder why you mention it (actually I don't wonder and I'm really not interested in your thoughts on the matter).

So much sense on this thread!

What a load of tosh, I live in one of the 'Happy' countries and I know plenty of people who are very very unhappy, to a point of either leaving (if they can) or are in such dire straights they are in a spiral of depression for what the counties been through and the mess its still in.

Actually I put this list together about a month ago because husband is depressed and I was trying to work out why. It's my list, some of it might be wrong, but sums it up I think.

This thread is so fascinating.

People here in the UK have been trained to equate happiness with having lots of money and stuff. It's very individualist and it makes people jealous, envious and suspicious of one another.

Actually, this study is showing that you can be wealthy and well serviced, however that literally doesn't buy happiness.

People who live in literal war zones may not have money, stuff and services, but perhaps strangely feel happier because they are grateful for the big things - each other, their community and their lives.

Yep.

This with bells on.

I am Nigerian and have lived in the UK for the last 25 yrs. I am not surprised Nigeria is number 6 on the happiest countries in the world. This is inspite of crippling poverty, a thrashed economy and corruption at local, state and government levels. Its a mind set. The hustle to do better and achieve more is ever-present. The hustle is always on in that country as there is no welfare safety net. Other factors like religion, closer family and community ties have a role too. I see it in my mum and my dad (who passed away 2 yrs ago) the focus isn't ever on what's gone wrong it's on the effort to try to make things better.

Fifty years ago was 1974. We had rolling power cuts, huge industrial unrest, two of the main political parties plotting to murder their opponents * , economic chaos, effective war in Northern Ireland and widespread bombing on the mainland.

We did not, however, have food rationing.

• slight exaggeration but Wilson's team did half seriously consider bumping off Marcia, and Thorpe was as guilty as sin.

@Peonies007 you have lovely handwriting. 🖋️ I agree with your list. I hope your husband is feeling better.

I do honestly think weather plays a huge part. I felt quite tearful the other day thinking that the sun is up there somewhere, but is being kept from me by this oppressive blanket of ever-present clouds.

Perhaps its because British people are annoyingly self deprecating. A bit of pride wouldn’t be bad!

There is so much poverty here. My neighbour is working in the Camhs in a very poor part of the country... the stories she tells. No warm clothes for the winter, many children undernourished as parents cannot afford to feed them. No hot meals, breakfast regularly stripped. I bet many kids in Yemen are less hungry than those in the most deprived pockets of the UK.

I have 2 disabled children but I am lucky to have a small part time job whilst DH is working full time. But the poverty I see for many in the disabled community is utterly soul destroying.

This with bells on. I'm from FSU and have been here 30 years. Apathy and misery are luxury beliefs. The hustle, the cooperation and the social structures are all in short supply here and I've definitely noticed the passivity getting bigger in the last 10-15 years.

On MN folks have a problem, then someone pipes up with "blame the Tories". I'm not a fan, but it jars how little responsibility people take for their own lives.

@Ireolu that is a really interesting point about hustle, and focussing on making things better. And having more of a social safety net, if not a state one.