Putting a Price to Happiness

 After reading a LinkedIn Post about the "Price of Happiness" I began thinking this through.

What is happiness? 

According to the Merriam Webster's Dictionary:

Happiness is an emotional and mental state of well-being, characterized by positive emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. 

More analytically happiness has its foundation in emotional state, life satisfaction and a sense of purpose. Thus intrinsically tied to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), especially SDG 3 - Good Health and Well Being. 

The post about the Remitly report "Global Cost of Happiness" and a 2018 Purdue University study point to a price point per country for well-being. I had strong recall of the poignant and en point Mastercard commercials of the late 1900s ;) I feel no one before AI and social media algorithms could assess the pulse of the masses (read consumers) like ad agencies. 

There were many resonances in other indices. 

Hierarchy of Needs

Source: Bite-sized Learning

I fell down the rabbit hole of looking up the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as well as looking into the well-known World Happiness Report 2026 by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network and its echoes and resonances in the Corruption Perceptions Index 2026 of Transparency International (TI) as well as the progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs Report 2026 - SDG Indicators). 

But I kept coming back to the succinct summaries of the Mastercard Ads. 

Mastercard Ad "Priceless" - Parents (India)

Happiness Echoes in Other Indices 

The UN Sustainable Development Goals Report 2026 and more TI's Corruption Perceptions Index echo a lot of what is deduced from Remitly's Global Cost of Happiness and the World Happiness Report. 

The resonances become clearer in the Visual Capitalist rendering of where happy people live (Global Happiness by Population, visualization of the World Happiness Report) and mapping of the world's most and least corrupt countries (visualization of the Corruption Perceptions Index).

Emergencies notwithstanding having "FU Money" reserves gives people options, time an power. In a way the financial cushion paved the way for happiness not desperation. The power to walk away is very empowering to the human psyche. Money flows within the community instead of austerity and outflows also improve quality of life  and livelihoods thus making people happy.

Mastercard Ad. 1997 - Baseball (USA)

Friendship, Community, Social Safety Nets 

Research over the years has lined happiness to not just the self but also the community.

 Friendships and family, community - the village it took to raise a child - is now needed to counter the creeping loneliness epidemic.

 This has been clinically researched and chronicled in the 2023 paper by Korean researchers "The relative importance of friendship to happiness increases with age." 

Female friendships have repeatedly shown to improve the state of mind and health of girls and women of all ages. In a world where suppressed feminine rage results in increased instances of autoimmune conditions in women and girls friendships are life saving beyond and because of the joy they give. 

Benjamin Radcliff a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame way back in 2013 in his book The Political Economy of Human Happiness emphasized the importance of the social safety net in the pursuit of happiness.

 The third space as well as a vibrant community free of austerity and money outflows make for happy people and places. IMF and World Bank mandated austerity make for poorer and unhappy communities concentrating wealth in the wrong places where it doesn't empower people, places and communities. The Great Good Place by Ray Oldenburg, a seminal book from 1999 centering "cafes, coffee shops, bookstores, bars, hair salons and other hangouts at the heart of the community" emphasize the connection between well-being and the third space. The 2009 blog piece "Happy Places, Third Places" from Psychology Today, emphasizes and summarizes the takeaways from the book. 

Green spaces, blue spaces - a connection with nature help to make people happier and healthier. 

Places of faith and community festivals add to happiness as much as they add to invisible labor but remain deeply connected to a sense of community and well-being. 

What do you think makes you happy?

What do you think will make your community happier?

What will it take to make your country happier?

Food for thought on this the day of the God who is the remover of obstacles (Maha Sankathara Chaturthi - celebrating the Hindu elephant headed god of knowledge, beginnings and solutions),  As we think about the road to happiness here's hoping he and our guardian angels remove the hurdles on this path!