Australia ranked the developed world's happiest country

[Zevico]

Just out of interest, when they were compiling the figures for this survey were they kept well away from Aborigines?

We penned them into a corner and made them watch endless reruns of Crocodile Dundee.

[Alexander's Horse]

Just out of interest, when they were compiling the figures for this survey were they kept well away from Aborigines?

of course, like the Welsh

[Dr Strangelove]

For the third year running, eat our dust..




All that money we give the OECD is paying off

I thought you no longer lived in Australia?

[Alexander's Horse]

I'm a resident and OS at the same time

[Uncle Sparky]

But the organisation also pointed out that there is a considerable gap between the richest and poorest – the top 20 per cent of the population earn six times as much as the bottom 20 per cent.

Are the bottom 20% as happy as the Bhutanese?

The data also showed Australian work fewer hours a year than their OECD peers. The average Australian works 1693 hours, compared with most people in the OECD who work 1776 hours a year.

Ah, just like the Greeks. I hope you all have good government pensions, too.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/austr...#ixzz2V4D7NCGN

[ricketyclik]

Australia

[Dr Strangelove]

Aussies only work 42 1/3 weeks per year? Around here that would be considered underemployed, which would be considered a negative in the happiness quotient.
What happens when you poll people directly and ask them how happy they are?

[ricketyclik]

Aussies only work 42 1/3 weeks per year? Around here that would be considered underemployed, which would be considered a negative in the happiness quotient.
What happens when you poll people directly and ask them how happy they are?

We have 4 weeks paid rec leave per year, plus 10 plus public holidays (depending on which state), 10 sick days and a week of long service leave after 7 years in one job

[Alexander's Horse]

Aussies only work 42 1/3 weeks per year? Around here that would be considered underemployed, which would be considered a negative in the happiness quotient.
What happens when you poll people directly and ask them how happy they are?

They would understate for cultural reasons.

I'm a litte uncomfortable with the poll myself. It makes us sound like munchkinland.

[DaShi]

Wow, the rest of the world must be really dangerous considering that Japan ranked top in safety even with its periodic incidents of nuclear fallout and epidemic poltergeist attacks.

[Alexander's Horse]

Aussies only work 42 1/3 weeks per year?

Yeah, sounds about right

[molly bloom]

Just out of interest, when they were compiling the figures for this survey were they kept well away from Aborigines?

Ask Northern Territory's chief minister. He's Koori.


Depends on the amount of Penfolds, V.B. or Margaret River imbibed I expect, Doc. . Or if they're surfing....

What happens when you poll people directly and ask them how happy they are?

[Dr Strangelove]

Warm beer? Yukh!!!

[Tupac Shakur]

Rankings!

Whenever a free-market research or business group releases a “best and worst” list of states, my eye goes straight to the bottom: To see whether California is last or was edged out for the lowest rank by one of the other mismanaged liberal bastions. Illinois seems to exist to boost the self-esteem of Californians.

I can raise a glass of zinfandel to California’s great victory in the Mercatus Center’s recent “Freedom in the 50 States” study. The state didn’t place last. That distinction went to New York, thanks to its highest-in-the-nation tax rates and entrepreneur-crushing economic regulations. I owe an apology to residents of the Land of Lincoln.

For all the study’s detail about tax rates and regulation, this information jumps out as the most telling about New York: “9.0 percent of the state’s 2000 population, on net, left the state for another state between 2000 and 2011, the highest such figure in the nation.” Moving is the surest sign of dissatisfaction, especially when people relocate from a state that has long been an economic and cultural magnet.

Californians talk incessantly about high-tailing it to Texas or Nevada, yet New Yorkers flee at about double our rate. Migration numbers aside, I would still rank the Golden State as the Most Hopeless State. There are other studies that bolster that case, including Chief Executive magazine’s “2013 Best and Worst States for Business” that places California dead last, with New York in 49th place.

California Can Top New York as Nation’s Worst State

[Alexander's Horse]

Yes we work less hours than the Greeks, which is probably why we have a lot of Greeks. Melbourne claims to be the largest Greek city in the world after Athens.

The large Greek population has helped Greece through the financial crisis, many Greeks have returned to Australia or used family connections to come out to Australia. They are welcome - great people. I spoke to some in Melbourne who did that.