The Netherlands is the eighth most happy developed nation, a recent report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has revealed.

Your Better Life Index

The OECD Your Better Life Index takes eleven topics which are considered to be essential to the quality of life in a country. These categories range from education and health to work-life balance.

The 34 countries who are members of the OECD, most of which are developed nations, were compared in each of these categories, with key partners Brazil and Russia added into the mix as well.

The index seeks to comparatively assess the quality of life in each of the nations without recourse to GDP or economic statistics.

Strong overall performance by the Netherlands

The Netherlands was considered to be a strong performer in almost all of the factors considered in the index, particularly in respect to how people view the strength of their social support network and the work-life balance struck in the country.

Last year the Netherlands was said to be the third best country in the world for work-life balance by the same organisation, but this most recent index has now seen the Netherlands jump above Norway in the rankings, with the top spot occupied by Denmark.

Poor performance in environment and safety

Points on which the Dutch government could reflect upon include the fact that the level of atmospheric PM10, that is, air pollution which can have a harmful effect on human beings, is much higher than the OECD average.

Also, a total of 4,9 percent of the Dutch population reported being a victim of assault during the previous 12 months, 0,9 percent above the OECD average.

Ranking the Index

The Your Better Life Index does not set out to rank countries itself, rather allowing people to choose which of the eleven topics they feel is most important to well-being and organising countries in respect of this.

If you would like to make your own assessment, check out the tutorial video below and then pay a visit to the website itself.
 

Source: BBC