Our Publications
2025 Giving Season Charities Update: ‘Tis the…
Download report as PDF 0. Intro: Our Top Charities are still on top – and even better than we thought​ 1. Our recommendations​ 2. Why haven’t we added anything new?…
Baird et al. and StrongMinds FAQ: Why…
We are sometimes asked why we recommend StrongMinds despite a study – Baird et al. (2024) – suggesting a small impact. Some people would give this study a lot of…
2025 Mid-Year Charities Update: HLI’s first mid-year…
Discover the ’s 2025 Mid-Year Charities Update: Our first-ever mid-year report featuring the new Living Review of WELLBY Cost-Effectiveness Analyses, expanded charity recommendations, and key funding updates. Learn how USAID…
The Happier Lives Institute’s public response to…
The Unjournal has provided a very positive peer review of the ’s psychotherapy report “The wellbeing cost-effectiveness of StrongMinds and Friendship Bench: Combining a systematic review and meta-analysis with charity-related…
The promise of ACTRA: Preventing crime with…
ACTRA is a charity delivering CBT to prevent crime in Latin America (starting in Colombia). It uses a model similar to NEPI, a charity that combines cash transfers and CBT…
Research Agenda 2025
We set out our research priorities for 2025. Download report as PDF At the , we search for the most cost-effective ways of improving global wellbeing. We are the first…
Stealing Happiness? The wellbeing cost-effectiveness of NEPI,…
Explore our cost-effectiveness analysis of NEPI’s innovative programme combining cash transfers and CBT to reduce crime in Liberia. With strong RCT evidence showing significant benefits to both recipients and the…
Does improving parenting practices in childhood lead…
The experiences we have as young children are widely recognized as having lasting impacts in later life. Supporting parents to engage with their children shows clear short-term developmental benefits and…
Ironing out wellbeing: A shallow exploration into…
Iron deficiency may be a major contributing factor to mental illnesses such as depression. In this shallow exploration, we evaluate the cost-effectiveness of Fortify Health’s work to address mass scale…
The measurement of wellbeing
​This article gives a brief introduction to the measurement of wellbeing and how to compare the impact of various outcomes, such as improving health or reducing poverty. Download report as…
Affective forecasting
This report explains the common mistakes we make when predicting the intensity and duration of our own and others’ feelings and the implications this has for global priorities research. Download…
Happiness for the whole family
We update our previous analysis to incorporate the household spillover effects for cash transfers and psychotherapy. We estimate that psychotherapy is 9 times (95% CI: 2, 100) more cost-effective than…
Global priority: mental health
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…
Psychotherapy: cost-effectiveness analysis
This report explains how we determined the cost-effectiveness of group or task-shifted psychotherapy in low- and middle-income countries using subjective wellbeing and affective mental health. Download report as PDF November…
A Happy Possibility About Happiness (And Other) Scales
There are long-standing doubts about whether data from subjective scales are cardinally comparable—should we, for instance, believe that if two people self-report their happiness as ‘7/10’ then they are as…
The wellbeing cost-effectiveness of StrongMinds and Friendship Bench: Combining a systematic review and meta-analysis with charity-related data (Nov 2024 Update)
Mental health disorders like depression and anxiety are common and significantly impact wellbeing, yet mental healthcare remains underfunded in low-income countries. Psychotherapy is an effective treatment that can be delivered…
Will faster economic growth make us happier? The relevance of the Easterlin Paradox to Progress Studies
Progress Studies has been popularised by academics such as Tyler Cowen and Steven Pinker. However, the Easterlin Paradox presents a real challenge to the claim that if we want more…
The property rights approach to moral uncertainty
Given the current state of our moral knowledge, it is entirely reasonable to be uncertain about a wide range of moral issues. This paper considers the suggestion that appropriateness under…
The measurement of wellbeing
​This article gives a brief introduction to the measurement of wellbeing and how to compare the impact of various outcomes, such as improving health or reducing poverty. Download report as…
Affective forecasting
This report explains the common mistakes we make when predicting the intensity and duration of our own and others’ feelings and the implications this has for global priorities research. Download…
Happiness for the whole family
We update our previous analysis to incorporate the household spillover effects for cash transfers and psychotherapy. We estimate that psychotherapy is 9 times (95% CI: 2, 100) more cost-effective than…
Global priority: mental health
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…
Psychotherapy: cost-effectiveness analysis
This report explains how we determined the cost-effectiveness of group or task-shifted psychotherapy in low- and middle-income countries using subjective wellbeing and affective mental health. Download report as PDF November…
A Happy Possibility About Happiness (And Other)…
There are long-standing doubts about whether data from subjective scales are cardinally comparable—should we, for instance, believe that if two people self-report their happiness as ‘7/10’ then they are as…
The wellbeing cost-effectiveness of StrongMinds and Friendship…
Mental health disorders like depression and anxiety are common and significantly impact wellbeing, yet mental healthcare remains underfunded in low-income countries. Psychotherapy is an effective treatment that can be delivered…
Will faster economic growth make us happier?…
Progress Studies has been popularised by academics such as Tyler Cowen and Steven Pinker. However, the Easterlin Paradox presents a real challenge to the claim that if we want more…
The property rights approach to moral uncertainty
Given the current state of our moral knowledge, it is entirely reasonable to be uncertain about a wide range of moral issues. This paper considers the suggestion that appropriateness under…