What can the Danes teach us about happiness

The following is a transcript of an article in BBC News:


Danes are the happiest people in Europe, a survey suggests. But what is the secret of their contentedness?

Something is markedly unrotten in the state of Denmark.

Asked to rate both their happiness and long-term life satisfaction, Danish people trounce their European cousins.


Many in Denmark put this regularly-surveyed contentedness down to a dynamic economy and a pleasant work-life balance, with people leaving the office on time, jumping on effective public transport and heading off to pick up their delightful children from a shiny, well-run kindergarten.

But there are others out to savage the myth of the happy Dane, arguing that low expectations of life account for their unusually happy disposition.

Kevin McGwin, from Maine in the US, works on the Copenhagen Post newspaper, and is well-used to surveys suggesting the Danish love of life. It could all be down to a pleasant quality of life, he suggests.

"Denmark is very consumer-oriented and very family-oriented. People are sure to leave work at 4.30pm. They work their eight hours and go home. Pressure to work overtime doesn't exist."


Denmark has a 37-hour week. Parents get 52 weeks of maternity/paternity leave to be shared between them - 24 weeks is usually at full pay, with the rest often at as much as 90% pay. Much of it can be spread over the first nine years of the child's life. Childcare is subsidised with no parent being asked to pay more than 25% of the cost.

Danish ambassador to London Birger Riis-Jorgensen says he doesn't find it surprising Danes rate themselves as happy.

"In other parts of Europe globalisation is perceived as a threat. For Danes, 78% think globalisation is an opportunity.

"We have high taxes but we have generous unemployment benefits, a lot of life-long learning. We feel secure and we feel that we have opportunities.

"We have a lot of faith in government as an institution. The authorities are normally competent, uncorrupt and approachable."












Public transport is ominously clean

Danes fundamentally believe their state is well run, Mr Riis-Jorgensen says, but citizens are still capable of complaining when there are problems with public services.

"If 5% of trains are running late it is a political problem."

And the safe streets of Copenhagen can be a surprise to foreign visitors.

"When foreigners are finding out they can safely let their children bike to school in the suburbs of Copenhagen they get pretty amazed."

But a study by the University of Southern Denmark earlier this year found success in happiness surveys might be down to low expectations.

Fears not realised

Researcher Kaare Christensen looked back over three decades of surveys that had created the legend of the "happy Dane".

"In countries such as Italy and Spain, people have much higher expectations for what the coming year will bring, but they're not especially happy or satisfied with their existence."

But Danes take a more realistic view of life, he suggested at the time.

"Year after year we're just happy that things didn't go as badly as we'd feared."

And even McGwin, who is married to a Dane, is sceptical that Danes' happiness is all its cracked up to be.

"The weather here is pretty lousy and half the year it's dark. They are as depressed as Hamlet some days."

South Africa 2007

South Africa 2007

Well we are now back after celebrating Bernadette's 60th birthday in Cape Town.

This time around, Nicole went a bit earlier and Michael was trying to catch up on the tan as I arrived 2 weeks after.

Whilst in Cape Town, Nicole, Michael and Bernadette went off to Plettenberg Bay. After 2 weeks in Cape Town, we finalised the trip, visiting family in Johannesburg. Whilst in Groburg, we also visited Soweto.

Bloukranz bungee jump

Bloukranz Bungee

Nearly 600 km east of Cape Town is the Tsitzikama national park and
the bridge over the Bloukranz pass.

The bridge is more than 500 metres long and 220 metres above the
bottom of the pass.

The bungee jump from just beneath the road on the supporting arch is
with its 216 metres therefore the biggest Bungee jump in the world.

On Friday 30/3 Nicole and I went to checkout the scene from where
Jesper jumped exactly 2 years earlier.

I decided to also make the jump and after having paid the ZAR 580.00,
Both Nicole and I were fitted with a harness and taken on a tiny foot
bridge the 260 metres to the centre of the arch.

The music was pumping and first a girl called Tracy was hooked up and
jumped. When she was back up, it was my turn.
The staff was joking away and doing all sorts of bloke things, and I
thouggt to myself, surely they could concentrate, whilst they were
connecting me to the "elastic band".

Anyways, after having been checked they asked me to step forward to
the edge and put my toes over the edge, hmmm.

After a countdown from 5, I kicked off. That VERY second when my feet
lost the connection, I thought to myself - what have I done...

Whilst accelerating to 120 kilometres an hour I got to admit that I
screamed a bit uncontrolled...

When the cable was fully expanded and I could enjoy the upside-down
view of the valley and the sea in the background, I shouted Yahoo and
waited to be lifted back up on the bridge again.

I was very happy to see Nicole again.