Discovering Denmark: life in the world’s happiest country

Ava Lily

Is England happy? Compared to Denmark, the answer would be a resounding no. According to many worldwide indexes, Danes are the happiest people on earth. And considering they pay high taxes and live in a cold country (that has little daylight in winter), they are lessons to teach us.

Denmark is a small country (like The Netherlands it’s flat so cycling is popular) which like England, has peaceful countrysisde and long costalines (beach huts are popular though here these ‘little castles’ face sideways with flowery curtain and chipped crockery).

There is no direct translation of the term hygge. It simply means ‘a sense of cosiness’, where people take outdoor walks, enjoy time with friends in winter whether in a cosy café or relax with a good book.

Compare that to England, where we have celebrity obsessions and online influencers, a need to ‘win the lottery’ in order to solve our problems, and often nasty media and politics.

The capital city used to be gridlock, but architect Jan Gehl gradually reduced cars and increased walking.

And unlike England, in Denmark there is no celebrity obsession. A top footballer could take the metro and nobody would bat an eyelid. In Denmark, you can own a boat, but mustn’t brag about it!

Denmark has a strong social safety net

This appears to be the main reason behind Denmark’s collective happiness. And interestingly, it does the complete opposite of UK politicians, who try to remove welfare benefits.

Like us, it has something similar to the NHS (paid through taxes). But it also has free public education (students pay back via taxes once earning) and good support for children, parental leave and vulnerable people (from disabled citizens to pensioners).

Danes do pay higher taxes. But they get a lot of wonderful benefits in return.

There are calls in England for a ‘wealth tax‘ (only Greens officially support it). Where those with over £20 million would pay a 2% levy (works out at around £20K each a year – most could pay this out of interest alone).

Collectively, this would raise around £25 billion a year, which could raise all our public services up to Danish levels, without hitting any of the most vulnerable in society. And most multi-millionaires in the UK are happy to pay it.