Why are Nordic people so happy?

Most of the happiest countries in the world are in northern Europe: Denmark, Finland and Norway occupy the top three seats in turn, and Sweden ranks seventh. The superpower USA ranks 1 1, and China ranks 1 12.

In the 10 century, several Danes visited a river in France. A messenger on the river bank asked them, "What's your leader's name?" "No leader," they answered. "We are all equal."

20 12 In April, the United Nations and the Earth Institute of Columbia University jointly released the World Happiness Report. The report puts forward a set of national happiness index (Bhutan's GNH index) system as an indicator to measure the happiness of people all over the world, including stable economic income, good interpersonal relationship, high employment rate and high-quality work, mutual trust and respect for social life, physical and mental health, support for families, good education and so on. The report shows that most of the happiest countries in the world are in northern Europe: Denmark, Finland and Norway occupy the top three seats in turn, and Sweden ranks seventh. The superpower USA ranks 1 1, and China ranks 1 12.

Why are Nordic people so happy? The first obvious answer is that the Nordic countries are all rich industrial countries, and people's living standards are generally high. /kloc-in the second half of the 0/9th century, the flood of industrialization hit the Nordic countries. In the 40 years before World War I, Denmark's GNP increased by nearly 200% at current prices, Norway increased by 150%, and Sweden increased by more than 250%. After the 1960s, Northern Europe became one of the regions with the most developed economy and complete welfare in the world. Since 1970, Denmark's per capita income has been among the highest in the world. In 2002, Denmark's per capita GDP reached US$ 29,593, ranking sixth in the world. In 2005, Norway's GDP was second only to Luxembourg among OECD countries, and Sweden's per capita GDP ranked fourth among European countries.

Secondly, the perfect social security system in Nordic countries. Nordic countries are typical welfare countries. Contrary to the selective policy of targeting only the poor after means test, the welfare system in Northern Europe is a universal social security model. Its policies involve education, housing, medical insurance, maternal and child health care, pension, unemployment relief, occupational accident insurance and other fields, covering all aspects and periods of life. It can be said that "from cradle to grave" has woven a safety net to avoid various social risks such as old age, illness, unemployment and disability. The Danish government spends 40% of its tax revenue on social welfare, of which 13% is used for education and scientific research. All ordinary schools in Denmark are free.

Social security in Nordic countries is not only extensive, but also universal. It has become a basic social right of citizens to enjoy social welfare, and the welfare state is committed to eliminating the inequality between different groups based on factors such as gender, age, class, family status, race and region. The most common benefits include old-age security, family allowance or child allowance for all families with children. The perfect social services provided by local governments in Nordic countries are one of the highlights of their welfare systems. "Midwives were on standby before you were born; After you are born, the health care nurse will visit you at home; Once mom and dad return to the labor market, professional children educators will take over to take care of you; School dentists have been providing services from 12 to 15 years since they were three years old. The teacher will guide you to complete the primary and secondary school courses; Nurses and doctors (some from public hospitals and some from private hospitals) provide free medical services for your life; When you lose your ability to take care of yourself, domestic workers will come to provide cleaning, shopping, personal care and other services; If necessary, you can also live in a nursing home (although there is some shortage at present). "

Therefore, the welfare of Nordic countries is often more targeted at individuals than families. In traditional society, many service functions that originally belonged to families have been socialized.

The perfect social service system makes housework socialized to a great extent, so women have time and energy to participate in social life, which also explains why the welfare system in Northern Europe is known as "female-friendly". Helga Heiners, a Norwegian scholar, pointed out that the development trend of "bearing into the public sphere" is the key to the policy of being friendly to women. Different from the European model, which advocates "men are the masters outside, women are the masters inside", the Nordic countries implement the dual-income family pension model for all. Through a series of regulations such as parental allowance and parental holidays, the concept that both parents are employees and caregivers is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Working mothers can get help from day-care kindergartens funded by public funds and are allowed to take time off to take care of sick children. In 2000, 90% children aged 3-5 in Denmark were registered in day care centers, and housewives who took care of their children at home almost disappeared. At the same time, some Nordic countries began to re-evaluate women's home care work. 1992, the Norwegian national insurance system recognizes that unpaid care work for children under 7 years old, the elderly, the sick and the disabled is equivalent to wage labor, and has increased pensions for many women who have never entered the labor market.

Third, its sustainable development policy is environmentally friendly. With the process of industrialization, Nordic governments have formulated detailed land use policies from local to central, and taken many measures to limit the distribution areas of processing enterprises, so as to minimize the social and environmental impact of industrialization. At the same time, Nordic countries actively safeguard the integrity of rural areas and protect human heritage and natural environment by establishing national parks and nature reserves. In 1970s, Denmark and Norway established the Ministry of Environment respectively. From 65438 to 0972, the United Nations Environment Conference was held in Stockholm, Sweden. With the deepening of environmental education, the public in Nordic countries are very concerned about environmental issues and have a strong "green consciousness". Caring for and protecting nature has become a social norm. Throughout northern Europe, consumer goods are labeled according to environmental standards, and environmentally friendly products are represented by swans or seals. As advocates of environmental rules, Nordic countries actively promote the concept of "sustainable development" through the United Nations. From 65438 to 0983, the United Nations established the World Commission on Environment and Development to monitor the relationship among human beings, resources, environment and development on a global scale. From 65438 to 0987, under the leadership of Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway, the World Commission on Environment and Development put forward a report entitled "Our Common Future", which triggered a great international debate on the concept of "sustainable development". Since then, the concept of sustainable development has become popular in Europe and has become the leading organizational principle in global development policies.

Finally, the Nordic deliberative democracy brings about class cooperation and political stability. In the 10 century, several Danes visited a river in France. A messenger on the river bank asked them, "What's the name of your leader?" "No leader," they answered. "We are all equal."

This is a simple concept of equality widely existing in the minds of ancient Scandinavian freemen. /kloc-from the end of 0/9 to the beginning of the 20th century, the establishment of modern democratic system in Northern Europe attracted worldwide attention for its steady and gradual characteristics. Due to a large number of immigrants to North America, all the economic, social and religious setbacks suffered by Nordic society have been alleviated. Generally speaking, the speed and intensity of the industrialization process are very moderate, which makes it possible to gradually adjust. The class structure of the working class, the peasant class and the industrial bourgeoisie made Northern Europe finally choose the "third way" between socialism and capitalism proposed by social democracy and created a unique "Scandinavian model". Scandinavian political model is completely different from British democratic model. In northern Europe, a government with a majority of political parties is a possibility, not a rule. Even during most government periods, such as from 1945 to 196 1 in Norway, the governments of the Nordic countries still followed Liafatt's so-called "* * * knowledge model". The essence of Scandinavian political democracy is public participation in the political process. Vertically, it is the participation of political parties and interest groups; Horizontally, it is the participation of local and regional governments. This extensive political participation is very obvious. After the war, the number of voters in parliamentary elections in Nordic countries exceeded 80% of the national population. Compared with international standards, Scandinavian political parties and interest groups have many members, high enthusiasm for participating in activities and democratic internal management, thus becoming an effective tool to represent public opinion.

The social equality pursued by the welfare state makes the Nordic people "rich but not arrogant"; The environment-friendly policy under the concept of ecological harmony makes this cold and dark high-latitude area one of the regions with the highest forest coverage and the most charming scenery in the world. The public's extensive participation in political and social life makes the government's work efficient and clean. Nordic values and lifestyles give us a new understanding of the word "happiness".