By Elva Carri
Action for Happiness is a movement of individuals and organisations taking action to create a happier society. The movement has over 32,000 members. It’s backed by experts in education, economics, business and social innovation and provides evidence-based ideas and materials to create happier homes, workplaces and communities. A poll commissioned by Action for Happiness recently revealed that your happiness is more important to the people around you than you might have thought.
87% of UK adults would choose the “greatest overall happiness and wellbeing” over the “greatest overall wealth” (chosen by only 8%) for the society they live in and the figure was broadly consistent across all regions, age groups and socioeconomic statuses.
Director of Action for Happiness, Dr. Mark Williamson commented on what this brings to light, “The economy dominates our political and social discussions, but this survey shows that happiness is more important to people. The vast majority of people would prefer society to be happier rather than richer. So we need to spend less time focusing on the size of the economy and more time focusing on how to help people live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives.”
Economist and co-founder Lord Richard Layard notes, “We should be giving much more attention to mental health, supporting positive family and community relationships and creating a more trusting society.”
