Why Iceland is a happy place to be ? 😊
In 2019 a UN report put Iceland in place as to be home to the 4th world’s happiest people, it was a nice fact to learn!
So how did the Icelanders come to score so high on the Happiness Scale of Life!?
You maybe already know that Iceland is one of the country in the world with the highest HDI (human development index) with 0.938/1 registered.
Here are some facts that come into play to answer such a question:
Icelanders pay some hefty taxes, not so good but do get A LOT in return.
People don’t have to worry about:
- Health care
- Hospital/doctor appointment costs
- Higher education
- Maternity/Paternity leave
- Day-care
Iceland has great social services. The country tries to take care of its people.
Iceland does not have an army, navy or air force. – Above that, the Icelandic police don’t carry guns. Crime in Iceland is very low and violent crime is practically non-existent , the country averages about 1 murder a year.
Low unemployment: Although Iceland was rocked by the global financial crisis of 2008, they have a low unemployment rate of 4%
Gender equality: Iceland consistently ranks very high for gender equality
LGBTQ++++ friendly
Big sense of community
Personal Freedom – According to Forbes, Iceland ranks #1 in the personal freedom category of all countries.
Icelanders have also developed a fierce resilience honed over centuries of deprivation and isolation. Think winter darkness, volcanic eruptions and unforgiving terrain so otherworldly that NASA dispatched the Apollo astronauts here in 1965 to train for their upcoming moon walks!
In times of strife Icelanders look straight ahead and have the general attitude/thinking that things will have a way of working out, try not to worry too much! As the locals say ‘Þetta reddast!’ that is the icelandic “Hakuna Matata”