Let’s work together to create a happier world
The Happier Lives Institute connects impact-focused donors with the most cost-effective opportunities to increase global wellbeing.
Our current recommendation is StrongMinds, a non-profit that provides effective treatment for women struggling with depression in Uganda and Zambia.
The Happier Lives Institute connects impact-focused donors with the most cost-effective opportunities to increase global wellbeing.
Our current recommendation is StrongMinds, a non-profit that provides effective treatment for women struggling with depression in Uganda and Zambia.
Measuring what matters
Most people agree that happiness matters.
You might think it is the only thing that matters.
Over the last 30 years, pioneering academics in economics, philosophy, and psychology have tested and developed reliable measures of happiness and life satisfaction.
Today, large population surveys allow us to measure and track wellbeing across the world. We can stop relying on measures of wealth or health as our best guess for how people’s lives are going.
But what is wellbeing and how can we measure it?
You can make a difference
The cost-effective interventions we’ve identified may surprise you.
Our research shows that treating depression in low-income countries is nine times more cost-effective than providing direct cash transfers.
Our latest news and research
Can we trust wellbeing surveys? A pilot study of comparability, linearity, and neutrality
We present a pilot of 50 survey questions we intended to use to assess questions of comparability, linearity, and neutrality in subjective wellbeing measurements. Read more
Immigration reform: a shallow cause exploration
In this shallow cause exploration, we explore the impact of immigration on subjective wellbeing. We review the literature, model the impact of immigration on wellbeing, and conduct some back-of-the-envelope calculations of the cost-effectiveness of various interventions to increase immigration. Read more
Pain relief: a shallow cause exploration
In this shallow cause exploration, we explore the relationship between pain and subjective wellbeing; assess the severity and scale of chronic pain in terms of life satisfaction; and offer some novel back-of-the-envelope calculations for the cost-effectiveness of several interventions to treat pain. Read more
