Smile, you're on Happy Planet Index

Most everyone has heard of the Happy Planet Index, in which an attempt is
made to quantify what goes into a "happy life for all", including economic,
ecological and life expectancy factors, and a whole lot of other stuff.
Makes for jolly interesting stats, and here are some of them...

5 highest scoring (happiest):
Vanuatu
Colombia
Costa Rica
Dominica
Panama
Cuba

5 lowest scoring (most unhappy):
Ukraine
Dem. Rep. of the Congo
Burundi
Swaziland
Zimbabwe

5 things we can do about it:

1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
Increasing material wealth in (so-called) developed countries does not lead
to greater happiness, and that extreme poverty systematically undermines
people's opportunities to build good lives for themselves and their
families. We urgently need to redesign our global systems to more equitably
distribute the things people rely on for their day-to-day livelihoods, for
example: income, and access to land, food and other resources.

2. Improve healthcare.
High life expectancy in a country reflects good healthcare and living
conditions, and has a positive relationship to people's sense of well-being.
Globally we need to increase access to clean water, halt the rise in
diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria, and reduce child and maternal
mortality. The World Health Organization estimates that everyone in the
world could be provided with a good level of basic healthcare for just $43
per person, per year.

3. Relieve debt.
Many developing countries are forced to prioritise the service of crippling
financial debt over providing a basic standard of living. Debt
sustainability calculations should be based on the amount of revenue that a
government can be expected to raise without increasing poverty or
compromising future development.

4. Shift values.
Value systems that emphasise individualism and material consumption are
detrimental to well-being, whereas those that promote social interaction and
a sense of relatedness are profoundly positive. Government should provide
more support for local community initiatives, sports teams, arts projects
and so on, whilst acting to discourage the development of materialist values
where possible (for example, by banning advertising directed at children).

5. Support meaningful lives.
Governments should recognise the contribution of individuals to economic,
social, cultural, and civic life and value unpaid activity. Employers should
be encouraged to enable their employees to work flexibly, allowing them to
develop full lives outside of the workplace and make time to undertake
voluntary work. They should also strive to provide challenges and
opportunities for personal development at work.