Geographies of human wellbeing
In this talk, Jim Harter talks about the critical elements of wellness and happiness.
Psychologist Tim Kasser discusses how America's culture of consumerism undermines our well-being. When people buy into the ever-present marketing messages that "the good life" is "the goods life," they not only use up Earth's limited resources, but they are less happy and less inclined toward helping others. The animation both lays out the problems of excess materialism and points toward solutions that promise a healthier, more just, and more sustainable life.
- Global Human Development IndicatorsExplore the interactive tool. The data reflects the Human Development Index (HDI), the Inequality-Adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI), the Gender Development Index (GDI), the Gender Inequality Index (GII), and the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
What would happen if the government started giving everyone $15,000 a year – no matter how rich or poor they are?
Spatial variations in wellbeing
These are the 10 countries with the highest percentage of total wealth in the hands of their top 1%.
10 countries that are best at preventing too much wealth from accumulating at the top.
- Better Life IndexThis Index allows you to compare well-being across countries, based on 11 topics the OECD has identified as essential, in the areas of material living conditions and quality of life.
- National, state and territory population, March 2024Data and analysis from the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Poverty
- Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhereMore than 700 million people, or 10 per cent of the world population, still live in extreme poverty today, struggling to fulfil the most basic needs like health, education, and access to water and sanitation, to name a few. The majority of people living on less than $1.90 a day live in sub-Saharan Africa. Worldwide, the poverty rate in rural areas is 17.2 per cent—more than three times higher than in urban areas.
- PovertyGlobal extreme poverty rose in 2020 for the first time in over 20 years as the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic compounded the forces of conflict and climate change, which were already slowing poverty reduction progress. About 100 million additional people are living in poverty as a result of the pandemic.