Where Is Autism Represented in the World Happiness Report?

Source: Sustainable Development Solutions Network

March 20 is a big day in my world. It is the International Day of Happiness, which my workplace uses to message the importance of enhancing well-being in the autism community. It is also the day that the World Happiness Report (Heliwell et al., 2024) is released each year. The World Happiness Report is released annually by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, a global initiative of the United Nations. It ranks countries based on various factors related to happiness and well-being. It has been published annually since 2012.

Newest Happiness Rankings

Typically, the media highlights which country is the happiest—indeed, that is exciting data. This year, the Scandinavian countries are leading the world in happiness again, which has been true since the report's inception; Finland topped the list as the happiest country for the 7th consecutive year. This year, the report provided additional information about people's happiness at different life stages or age ranges, the first time the report had been organized in this manner. The report provides rankings by age group. Interestingly, a particular age group in one country can vary widely from their overall rankings. For example, Lithuania topped the list for children and young people under 30 but placed 52nd in the overall rankings.

These age group data and national rankings are all interesting, but what I look for in the report each year is the representation of people with disabilities. The World Health Organization (2023) estimates that 16 percent of the world's population, approximately 1.6 billion people, is disabled. I quickly searched the report, and disability is mentioned just once. This single mention is in reference to gender, noting that although women outlive men, women have lower levels of mental and physical health and a greater burden of later life sickness and disability, possibly lowering their satisfaction with life.

Disability in Research

People with disabilities are often marginalized (McConkey et al., 2021; Valle & Connor, 2019). Research doesn’t regularly consider happiness when assessing people with disabilities. Research and intervention efforts for individuals with autism and other disabilities have focused primarily on remediating perceived deficits (Fine, 2019). Some research has reported that people with disabilities report lower rates of happiness, including those living in low- and middle-income countries (Emerson & Llewellyn, 2023), while others document people with disabilities thriving and flourishing (Thompson et al., 2020; Sen Mukherjee & Barr, 2023). There is a reasonable argument that disability does not create unhappiness; rather, it's the lack of access to critical quality-of-life factors such as opportunities to meet others and create strong relationships, transportation, employment, and the ability to access one's community fully. These barriers can and should be addressed by society before assuming that disability contributes to unhappiness.

The World Happiness Report has taken on an enormous task in evaluating well-being worldwide. The researchers' efforts are commendable. This year's breakdown related to age will provide meaningful information to researchers and policymakers. Lithuanians will most likely ask themselves, “What happens to our happy children—how can we do better to maintain a happy population?” In the United States, we will be asking ourselves about changes we simply must take to address the low level of happiness for our young people (under age 30).

But I can’t help but want to have a greater understanding of the happiness of the 16 percent of the world's population that identifies as disabled. The magnitude of this research and its ability to influence world populations—I can only imagine what it could do to affect change for people with disabilities.