The Happier Lives Institute helps donors and policymakers to answer the following question:

How can we use our resources most effectively 
​to help people feel happier? ​

​Our research combines data from self-reported happiness and life satisfaction scores with insights from multiple academic disciplines, primarily economics, philosophy, and psychology.

Latest research

MENTAL HEALTH
​Problem Area Report

This report investigates the global burden of mental illness. It sets out how big the problem is, how much spending it receives, and how those resources are allocated. It then focuses specifically on what can be done to reduce anxiety and depression in low-income countries

CASH TRANSFERS
Meta-analysis

Cash transfers reduce poverty, improve health, and enhance education but what impact do they have on how people feel about their lives? We find that cash transfers have a small, positive effect on subjective well-being, one that lasts for several years.

SUBJECTIVE SCALES
Working Paper

​One of the most common concerns about using measures of subjective well-being is whether individuals’ scores are cardinally comparable. If two people both report their happiness is 7/10, how confident can we be that they are as happy as each other?

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The Happier Lives Institute (“HLI”) is operating through a fiscal sponsorship with Players Philanthropy Fund (Federal Tax ID: 27-6601178), a Maryland charitable trust with federal tax-exempt status as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to HLI are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Photo used under Creative Commons from wuestenigel