ALB
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They’re freer and more generous than their neighbours, but this is not enough for Albanians to be happier than them or the rest of Europe. This is a sad finding of the United Nations on the International Happiness Day.
What are the main causes? It looks like corruption, poor access to social care, healthcare and the low incomes that citizens of this country have to live on. According to experts of the UN, all of these reasons rank Albanians at the bottom of the old continent as far as happiness is concerned, alongside citizens of third world countries which are either going through wars or armed conflicts. These countries include Venezuela, Palestine, Senegal or Somalia. On the other hand, UN experts say happiness as being closely linked to governance. “The happiness of the citizens in most countries determines what governments they support”, they say. In this point of view, Albanians are also unhappy due to the frequent political crises that the country goes through.
Let us not forget that even now, the country is once again in a political crisis and this seems to have made an impact on the position of the country in different world rankings. “Institutions and government policies are among the main factors that affect the quality of life for the citizens of a country”, is another finding made by UN experts. According to them, the way the government and institutions behave with citizens also determines the level of happiness that exists within a certain population, something that Albanians still don’t seem to enjoy. We must not forget the fact that for the time being, Albania ranks among countries with the biggest corruption in the region (134 points), leaving behind only North Macedonia (129 points).
Albanians have the poorest access to social care in the region
A big pension can make someone happy. The same is also true about the jobseekers allowance, which allows a person who is looking for a job to live a normal life while he’s out of work. A good disability allowance also enables people of this category to live comfortably. But, Albania is still far from guaranteeing such standards and this is another finding of the United Nations Organization report.
Northern Europeans are among the happiest in the world
For the moment, they’re among the happiest people in the world. They have good governance, good social care, good healthcare and a good income. These are things that people in north European countries such as Finland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Holland and Sweden enjoy. But the same can also be said about countries such as New Zealand and Canada. All of these countries lead the global happiness ranking.