With research by us at the , Bloom Wellbeing Fund has recently released a new report providing an up to date overview of the problem of mental illness, and the best ways to solve it. Here are our top takeaways from the report, which are an edited version of the […]
We take happiness seriously.
At the Happier Lives Institute, we search for the best ways globally to improve human happiness.
We recommend the highest impact charities we’ve identified so that you can make the biggest difference with your donations.
Our research finds the best charities have about 1,000 times more impact per dollar than standard charities.
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Charity evaluations
We find and recommend the top charities for improving happiness globally.
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Consultancy
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Research
We conduct in-depth analyses and review research in happiness and wellbeing science.
Discover our research
How do we measure happiness?
We use a metric called the Wellbeing-Adjusted Life Year, or WELLBY, which has also been adopted by the UK Treasury and New Zealand government.
You can think of a WELLBY as a year of happiness. More technically, a WELLBY is a one-point increase in wellbeing, on a scale of 0-10, for one person for one year
The Happier Lives Institute has been pioneering the WELLBY since 2019, because it allows us to measure what really matters.
Top Charities
StrongMinds is transforming depression treatment with a cost-effective, scalable model.
Friendship Bench Zimbabwe reimagines the delivery of evidence-based healthcare.
Promising Charities
Pure Earth works to protect people, especially children and pregnant women, and the planet from the harmful effects of toxic pollution.
Taimaka has reimagined pediatric malnutrition treatment by making it more cost-effective and scalable.
How much happiness can you create?
Enter your yearly income, currency, and the % you would like to donate
to understand how many WELLBYs you can create.
Yearly Income
Currency
% I’d like to donate
You are donating 0 per year. This would create...
| XX WELLBYs by providing XX people with psychotherapy via StrongMinds | |
| XX WELLBYs by providing XX people with psychotherapy via Friendship Bench | |
| XX WELLBYs by treating XX children for acute malnutrition via Taimaka | |
| XX WELLBYs by saving XX children from lead exposure via Pure Earth | |
| Can’t decide between these charities? Donate to our Happier Lives Fund and we’ll allocate your donation between them | Donate to the Happier Lives Fund |
81,387
WELLBYs created
What does this mean?
61,610 years
of depression averted
$7,600,000
of charitable donations influenced towards high impact charities
$208,000,000
what our donors would have to give to standard charities for the same impact
To find out how we calculate this, check out our “Our Impact” Page
The Happier Lives Institute is the only organisation that researches the most cost-effective ways globally to improve wellbeing.
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What industry experts are saying
We are writing a sad update concerning an HLI-recommended charity, Network for Empowerment & Progressive Initiative (NEPI), which ran a project called STYL that targeted young men with criminal backgrounds with CBT therapy and cash transfers to reduce crime. The started recommending NEPI as a ‘Promising Charity’ in November […]
Marketing Manager Location: Remote (HLI’s registered address is in Bristol, England) Salary: £30,000 – £40,000 per year (pro rata) or equivalent, depending on experience and agreed hours Hours: Flexible: 3-4 days per week, with sufficient cross-over with the UK working day Contract type: Contractor, initial 6-month contract with scope to renew Start […]
Operations Coordinator (Part-time) Role: Operations CoordinatorOrganisation: (HLI)Location: Remote (UK-based preferred)Hours: Part-time, 2-4 days per weekSalary: £29,000–£36,000 FTE pro rata (depending on experience)Contract type: Employee (with pension contributions and annual leave entitlement) if UK-basedReports to: Chief Operating Officer (COO) About the The (HLI) pioneers […]
It was a fine summer’s day when Sam and I waltzed onto the plane in top hats. Yes, actual top hats. On Ryanair. The cabin crew seem somewhat bewildered, but quite honestly I’m sure they’ve seen worse. The most common questions we got from fellow travellers were if we were lost magicians. […]
[This is the second of two articles on the relationship between happiness and money. The last covered whether money can buy happiness – we said ‘yes, with minor caveats’. This considers how to buy more happiness for your money.] Part of our frustration with the “can money buy happiness?” debate is that […]
People say ‘money can’t buy happiness’. Other people offer the reply that “the people who say ‘money can’t buy happiness’ just don’t know where to shop”. Our response is that money definitely can buy happiness. We think that’s so obvious it’s a boring question to ask. A better question is “how much […]
This may sound like a faux-intellectual investigation of something that’s obvious. But when I tell people I’m a happiness researcher, sometimes people get this glint in their eyes, probably thinking they’re the first person to ask me: “What does ‘happiness’ even mean?”. I think this is an important, if unoriginal, question. Because […]
Freelance Web Developer Wanted! The is looking for a freelance web developer to lead a full website redesign. We’re a growing non-profit applying cutting-edge happiness research to find the most impactful charities – and we need a site that reflects the importance of our work. 🛠️ Key requirements: Migrate […]
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