Maybe it’s all the stroopwafels, it certainly isn’t all the rain. Dutchies must be doing something right, as nearly 90% of them say they are happy.
This is according to new figures from 2019 released by Statistics Netherlands.
It’s hardly a surprise, as the Netherlands has already ranked in the top ten healthiest countries and six sexiest countries earlier this year. Who wouldn’t be happy about that? 😏
As we get older, we get happier
It turns out, the older we get and the more educated we are, the happier it makes us. A staggering 92% of 65-75-year-olds reported they were happy, compared to other age groups where “only” 88-89% reported being happy. Still pretty high figures!
Education = happiness
The key to happiness also seems to be in education (queue all teachers smugly grinning). A whopping 92% of those with higher education said they were happy, while 86% of those with a lower level of education were happy. That’s worth staying in school for, eh?
And apparently, money does buy happiness. The study showed that people got happier the higher their income. It also showed that young people in work were happier than those out of work.
Not all good news
Despite a lot of people in the Netherlands being satisfied with their life, there’s a flip side to the coin. In these 2019 figures, more people rated their happiness as “extremely low” compared to five years prior. We can imagine this number will only increase when the figures from last year come out. 😬
Young, less educated people seem to be having the toughest time. There was a greater difference in happiness between lower educated young people and higher educated young people than lower and higher educated older people.
What do you make of this study? Do the Dutch seem happy to you? What’s thier secret? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Feature Image: d.travnikov/Depositphotos
