Defining people’s happiness is one of the important factors that should be considered while assessing a developed country. However, nowadays economic factor & digitalization have overshadowed and now GDP has become a governing factor in accessing developed country status.
Although it is evident that many countries have good GDP rankings, but the life of an individual citizen is not as good in their country. China is one of the best examples where the life of it’s citizens are not so good.
So how to improve happiness of Indians?
First, how to define the happiness of the country?
The World Happiness Report 2025 was published on March 20th, 2025.
The report, compiled by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre in collaboration with Gallup and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, assesses happiness based on factors like GDP per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom, generosity and perceptions of corruption.
The report consists of the happiness ranking of 147 countries, in which the top 10 countries are
- Finland
- Denmark
- Iceland
- Sweden
- Netherland
- Costa Rica
- Norway
- Israel
- Luxembourg
- Mexico
And a few other countries are having a ranking….
18. Canada
21. UAE
22. German
23. UK
24. US
34. Singapore
55. Japan
68. China
92. Nepal
109. Pakistan
118. India
147. Afghanistan
India is at 118 position out of 147 countries. Finland retains its position as the happiest country for the eighth consecutive year.
What are the main reasons of happiness in the top two countries?
- Robust Social Security System
- High level of trust on each other especially on government
- The Expectation Vs Reality ratio is good
- Good Satisfaction level, even though having lower income
- Equality level in terms of education, income and healthcare.
Social security systems work efficiently in these countries like affordable homes, income security, free healthcare and free education. People are happy even though the taxes are on the higher side. The government systems are working efficiently, hence the trust level in the government and people is also at higher side. Most of their basic expectations are being fulfilled, so their expectation vs reality ratio is also good. Equality across all citizens is working well, like equal income, equal education opportunities, equal treatment in healthcare, etc. This all creates happiness & satisfaction in life, even though having a lower income.
Why is India in the bottom, having 118th rank in the happiness index?
In India, all five main reasons that are required to keep the happiness of citizens in the country are completely missing. The social security like affordable homes, free healthcare and free educations are limited to very minor percentage of the people, that also do not have quality and many people are not getting these due to corruption. Rest, the major population is struggling to sustain their life by themselves for every basic necessity in spite of paying hefty taxes.
In India, every citizen is paying from 20% to 60% taxes that are in form of GST and income tax. Even a poor citizen of the country is paying around 20% tax in from of GST. The middle & above classes are paying both GST and income tax. Even after paying such taxes, large population is deprived of free home, free education, free healthcare, equal opportunities, etc.
Citizens of India are having more workaholic life not by choice but by force. So the quality of life and satisfaction level of Indian citizens are very low due to which their happiness is always on risk which in reflecting in happiness index survey which kept India on 118 position on Happiness Index.
What are the main reasons for low happiness?
Two main reasons are majorly impacting the happiness & satisfaction level of Indian citizens.
- Efficiency of Government
- Contribution of citizens
1. Efficiency of Government
In India, the efficiency of the government is very much low. Four main pillars are the backbone of the government structure, which makes the government system efficient.
- Politicians
- Bureaucrats
- Judiciary
- Police
If these four pillars work properly, then it can change the destiny of the country. Life of the citizens will be far better than it is presently. In all four areas, reforms are needed that can largely increase the quality of life and happiness of the Indian citizens.
2. Contribution of citizens
As the government systems are not working well so the struggle to create well-being for the family is becoming difficult day by day. Due to which the society is becoming selfish at a faster pace towards themselves and their family. No one is ready to contribute for the country or for people. Everyone is running to accumulate money to get basic necessities like quality homes, quality education and quality healthcare, future security, etc. and is further busy in upgrading their lifestyle. This struggle continues till the end of life. Still large population is not able to get basic necessities till the end of the life.
This struggle towards basic necessities and to upgrade lifestyle is not allowing people to think beyond themselves & their family which is making society more selfish. Every individual is struggling in their own life. That is the main reason people are not coming forward to strengthen the society & country and expecting some miracle to happen in the government system.
How to improve the efficiency of the government
To improve the efficiency of the government, reforms are required for politicians, bureaucrats, Judiciary and police. In the survey of happiness index it is found that the top countries have having low corruption rate so in India the problem of corruption needs to be addressed on priority which is the major hurdle to becoming a happy country.
How to improve the contribution of citizens
The contribution of citizens is equally important. In India, a very small percentage of people are actually helping people & society.
Low affordability and future security are the main reasons which is not allowing people to think beyond self and family due to which people are busy accumulating things for family.
So how can people come out of this selfish behavior and can think for helping each other to build a happy nation.
If you see, during the whole life cycle, i.e. from earning age till end of life, a major chunk of earnings are going into four major liabilities
- Dream House
- Kid’s Education
- Medical Security
- Future Security
One whole life is not enough to fulfill these basic necessities and future security for every citizen of India. There are only two options left, first that we should wait miracle to happen when government systems start working efficiently. Second, work for self as well for people/country.
What is the core reason behind low ranking of India as an unhappy nation?
In India, humans start working from age 3 till age 60 and many times till the end of life. A human life is not taking any pause, just continuously working for something like education, job, business, etc. Very few people are lucky those are living the life they want.
Let’s understand how our life is struggling….
Staring from age 3, a kid start working from play school till KG-2 and further from grade 1 to 12, after which graduation and post graduation. After completing education, start working to earn money to fulfill basic necessities and desires. This continues till age 60. Large population in India is even working after age 60 and sometimes till end of life just for basic necessities to sustain the life.
This all struggle including education, a human is doing to earn for sustain basic necessities and to upgrade lifestyle. Motive to get higher education is to earn more money so parents are educating their child in such a way so that they can earn as much money and keep higher position in society. That is the way our society is growing.
Nowadays, a new concept has been introduced for kids of Financial Education which is again pushing to build money centric society. Due to which selfishness is growing day by day and people are becoming more isolated and self centered.
In this race, many are becoming rich and many remain poor. The gap between rich and poor is growing day by day. In India, many are living life so lavishly and many are struggling to get even one time food.
It is the right way to build society? By following this way a human can be happy or India can become a happy nation?
The answer is NO.
We should understand that the intention behind any work is very important and that the intention should be right. Our present intention is making society more self centric.
What should be the way to live life happily?
In top two countries, the major factors found that make country happy are….
- Robust Social Security System
- High level of trust on each other especially on government
- The Expectation Vs Reality ratio is good
- Good Satisfaction level, even though having lower income
- Equality level in terms of education, income and healthcare.
Here major role should be of the government but in India it is a bit difficult to get these all from the government. One should create things by self in which major thing is a social security or in other words financial security cover that take care of your shelter, kid’s education, medical security and future security.
Now what should be the way of life?
Staring from age 3 till age 90, around 87 years a human life is struggling and most of the people are working for self and their family. This must be stopped.
In India presently, there are less opportunities for earning compared to the population and after age 18, everyone is working either to earn money or work to help to get necessities. Giving earning opportunities for such a large population is a bit difficult especially in the present time.
We should divide life into two phases,
- The First phase should be from age 3 to 45 years (around 42 years) and
- The Second phase should be from age 45 to 90 years (around 45 years).
In the First phase – from age 3 to 18 years, the focus should be on getting the best education with the best culture, values, manners and traditions. From age 18 till age 45, the focus should to upgrading skills, earning money, creating good lifestyle, making position in society, building future security for self and family.
Parallel to this, one should build mind set in such a way that after age 45, he/ she should work to help people & society while doing active work or earning. After age 45, their intention is to help and serve for people & society. This help should be in the form of teaching skills, building organizations for creation of job opportunity, social awareness, career counseling, sharing knowledge, helping to improve infrastructure like education, healthcare, guiding people, etc. This help should be of his/her liking /hobby/passion then one will spread their knowledge & work effectively and efficiently. Also it gives satisfaction and fulfillment in life.
The Second phase of life will start from age 45 till 90 years of age. First 20 years, i.e. from age 45 to 65, one should actively work for people & society, share skills & knowledge which help society while doing active earning. During this phase, not only one should work for society but also live life for self by enjoying free time with adventuring and exploring the things around the country and world, pursuing hobbies, etc..
Next 25 years i.e. from age 65 to 90, the energy levels would not be good so do the work that need less effort and spend time with self, family & friends. In this phase, life should be peaceful. This duration is for fulfillment and to get a peaceful & satisfied life. One should not have greed of money.
What action is recommended so the person can build future security before age 45?
In India, earning opportunities for the youth are limited. But everyone is doing something to earn money and making sustainability for self and their family.
Most of the earning member of the family depend upon one income stream and are doing best effort whole life to increase their income. A very few percentage of the people are able to reach at starting range of higher levels of income like Rs 3+ Lakhs per month.
So there is a necessity to create multiple income sources by which the income per month can be increased.
What kind of income one should create so it will work efficiently in life?
Earning money is one part, but another most important part is how to handle money efficiently. These both can create miracle to build your future security well before age 45.
If someone is having higher level of income, then one stream of income is enough. But in India, a very minor percentage of the people are lucky to fall into the higher income bracket.
So the option left is to create multiple sources of Income. One should create mainly three kinds of income streams.
- Income from a Job or business
- Income from Investments
- Income from side hustle or multiple businesses
If these three income streams work properly, then building a future security corpus well before age 45 is very much possible.
At one point in time, these income streams should comfortably take care of all four major liabilities i.e. dream house, Kids education, medical security and future security.
How to make these three income sources efficient?
If you look closely, to get a first income one should spend a long time building it. Like, to get an income stream, one should complete education which takes around 18 years of time, starting with preschool education of 3 years, grade 1 to 12 around 12 years and graduation of 3 years. After 18 years of hard work, people are getting a normal job. During the course of time, their income grows at a pace that again depends upon handwork and learning skills.
The same is applicable to two other sources of income i.e. Income from Investments & Income from side hustle or multiple businesses. If we give time around 15-20 years to these two other income streams, then at one point in time it will generate a income which will be equal to your main source of income.
To make efficient income from two other sources, one should work from early age and work on it for at least 15 years then only it will reach at a level where the three income sources generate equal income. This helps to create your financial security well before age 45.
Let’s understand with an Example
Mr. Murali has completed his post-graduation at the age of 22. He got a job opportunity with a starting salary of 25k per month. Since the beginning, he has started saving from his salary and started investing which has started giving some monthly income from his investments. During his college days, he had good communication skills which he identified and started doing education counseling. Slowly, he has started charging nominally for his counseling.
Now in the present time, his main source of income which is a job is creating the main income stream and others are just stated giving some income which is very little as compare to the first main income source.
Now his age is 35 and his salary is around 1.25 lakhs. Since he has been doing investment and working on counseling from last 13 years so his other two sources are generating incomes around 50-60k per month from each source.
During his age 35 to 45 he was on senior positions hence he was able to save good sum of amount every month while living good lifestyle. At age 45 his salary is Rs 3 Lakhs per month and he is earning Rs 1.5 lakhs Rs from investments and around 2 Lakhs per month from education counseling. Altogether, he is generating Rs 6.5 Lakhs per month from all three streams of income. Their investments and side hustle are now generating more monthly income compare to main source of income. This has happened as he worked 23 years on saving & investing and education counseling.
After age 45, he has decided that he will continue to help society with education & career counseling with an intention to help youth. Money earning is become second priority as he is getting a good monthly income from investments and also from education & career counseling. Every year their corpus and monthly income is growing as he is managing all expenses by counseling. More importantly, this work is giving fulfillment & satisfaction in life and same time he has time freedom too.
This is one of the examples of how Indians can work on their Financial Security and can increase happiness while making financial ease in life and time freedom.
To become a happy nation, every citizen should be reasonably happy which can only happen when people start working to build financial security in 1st phase of life and in 2nd phase, they focus on self and can help people/ society to make a happy country.
So start building your mind set to be free from greed of money by securing Financial Security cover by age 45 and further in second phase of life, live the life for self and for people/ country with enjoying every moment of life.
This all will help to build India as a happy country.
Read this….
How to build Financial Security by normal earnings – Step by step guide
