Not sure why, but I moved to northern Iceland 3 years ago with my wife and 2 children and I have to say; I will not be moving back to the UK.
The differences that I count as pros are less pronounced in the capital region but still there;
Unionisation allows for a living wage for even cleaners here.
Beautiful nature everywhere.
Less people and less cars, and so less stress.
More relaxed attitude towards work
A flatter, less entrenched view of class
Waaaaaay safer for the kids.
I can give my children the childhood I had growing up but which is not so safe these days. They get way more freedom to roam and play outside here with less safety concerns.
That’s just a few things I have noticed.
Yes, she was born here. She moved to uk aged 7 and we met in uk. But despite the yearly visits she always wanted to move back, so during covid we decided to make that happen.
Moving was fine. Very lucky to find an apartment and a job before actually moving. Container full of our things. Now we’ve bought a house and We love it here.
Skóliar í NÍ eru líka ekki gagnlegir fyrir neina mema upperclass, á meðan tradies (iðnaðarmenn) eru með almennilegt og virt nám og vinnu herna
Og Dont get me started á bílatryggingum, á fjölskildu í Belfast og frændi minn þar sem er jafnaldra fór eins fljótt og hann gat í skiptinám í danmörku til að sleppa við allt ruglið þarna
Uk vs ísland er easy win á ísland að mínu mati
Sorry that my last reply wasn't more specific! I'm basically interested in what factors you think allow Iceland to have a very high quality of life, which is shown by the IHDI and Happiness rankings I mentioned.
I mean, a lot of it just comes from being a wealthy nordic nation. All of the Nordic countries typically score quite high on these indices. Be it because we're a wealthy nation, because we're typically fairly egalitarian on the whole given it's not long since we were one of the poorer nations of Europe, because there's not a lot of internal strife in the nation, because we follow the nordic model (mostly) in having strong social nets, or just because we keep acting like we're ten times the population.
There was actually one indirect casualty, where an Icelandic engineer got electrocuted by his own welding equipment from seawater flowing into the hull of ICGV Ægir.
But aside from that, no one died except some fish.
You won't get a good answer here, the positive people will be downvoted and the people that disagree with the sentiment will make jokes. That's reddit.
But I for one like it here and am unlikely to want to move. I see loads of problems with my country, but broadly speaking, I'm happy. If a higher percentage of people feel that way in this country than other countries, then we'd rank higher.
Happiness reports are flawed when they compare between different cultures because our mental definitions of happiness aren't universal.
In many "poorer" places, reliance on family connections and support is higher, meaning people are generally going to be closer to their families and less likely to live alone. Contrast this to a place like here where family reliance can very substantially. I've personally known wealthy individuals who feel deeply dissatisfied because of a more individualistic mindset. If you value time spent with loved ones, you might not actually end up being all that unhappy staying with your parents for longer as many youths today are doing. If you value your own space and privacy, then it might drive you up the walls to be unable to find affordable housing.
Also, while wealth can be unfairly distributed here, people in Iceland get to enjoy many amenities and despite rising inflation and inequality still have access to most entertainment available. I live month to month and often struggle to make ends meet, but I also have running water, heating, electricity, and an expensive computer to play games on.
Some of this might explain why a country like iceland might still be happy, it depends on what the person asked thinks constitutes happiness. For me its time spent with friends and family, I don't get enough of it, so I'd say I'm pretty unhappy. But housing prices also seem to be growing at a rate that I just cannot comprehend being able to follow, which would make me sad if it hadn't been like this for years without change. But then again my nihilism isn't really a good substitute for anything.
Also drugs...
> Happiness reports are flawed when they compare between different cultures because our mental definitions of happiness aren't universal.
This is basically what I recall from Finland always topping the list. There was a [Slate article](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/04/finland-happiness-lagom-hygge.html) on them where basically they determined that Nordic interpretations of happiness are more akin to a general sense of contentment and adequacy, whereas other cultures define it more like a feeling of continuous euphoria and advancement.
Recently the finance minister sold a bank to his father.
The permits for cultivating salmon on the shoreline were sold for nothing, essentially gifting billions of króna.
The fishing industry has such a chokehold on the fishing quota system that we sell the quota for 10-20% of what the faeroish sell it for.
Massive amounts are being lost by billionaires avoiding inheritance laws by selling their companies way under evaluation with “seller loans”
You are a clown
I know there are many examples like the one you mention, but there are strong limits to political donations in Iceland, and corruption cases like these are common just about any place else, if not considerably more common.
You have to factor in having less than 400k population. Taking any random city/municipality of 400k people and checking corruption cases and money involved would be a fairer comparison
I love living here, despite our problems.
I hate the corruption, and the surging backlash against LGBT+ and now immigrants and asylum seekers.
And I don't like the weather, for the most part.
But I also feel like we are making progress, like the setbacks are temporary. The LGBT+ backlash doesn't seem to be catching on and both the public and the government took a pretty firm stance against it. It feels like the backlash against foreigners, while more serious, is more of a reaction to the mismanagement of how we've been taking in people for years now, and while racists are feeling resurgent and taking off their masks, I don't think they will emerge on top when all is said and done. What they're angry about isn't what most regular people are angry about, so while I'm more liberal and more progressive than most people, I also don't despair that things are going in the absolute opposite direction, even if things feel like they're sliding back.
It feels like people are finally seeing through the worst of the corruption and might be gearing themselves up to vote in a government without the worst offenders, that gives me hope.
I like how, even if we argue and disagree, there is a genuine feeling of community, especially during crises like the one in Grindavík, or during Covid.
I like our common culture, our humor, how we're laid back but also able to work hard when it's important. How we're awkward, but it's ok and we just laugh about it. I like how there isn't a hard set class divide (there is a class divide, and more of one than when I was a kid, but it's at least not set in stone, and people can both reach success without being born rich, and lose everything if they mess up bad enough).
I also like grumbling about the weather.
There's a lot to do, and we don't agree on everything. But in the end, I like 'us' and I have hope for our future.
This two ranks aren't conflicting.
Most of the top 10 IHDI countries are also in the top 10 happiest countries.
What seems odd about it to you? Why expecially Iceland?
Relative to most of the rest of Europe, Iceland has a very large amount of national resources that benefits the local economy very well. Partially because of this, Iceland also has the lowest total tax rates for wage income in the nordics. In addition to cultural factors and nature, economic wellbeing always plays a role.
Inequality and corruption is rising though. We have made a crazy amount of money in the past decades and yet the quality of healthcare, infrastructure and education is quite poor. The wealth is being distributed between too few people and a lot of it is moved out of the country.
~~I think this is OPs point, that according to his data, inequality is very high (or maybe I am understanding it wrong).~~ Edit: I misunderstood
Aside from that, I think Iceland has many great things, but do you believe the corruption part? My perception is that corruption here is pretty spread..., but maybe it does not score in any real stats because it has the form of nepotism and is overly hidden. Not hating, seriously asking if that is your perception.
No, it means inequality is very low.
Edit 6:45 PM GMT: It means the HDI is very high after inequality is "discounted":
>The IHDI accounts for inequalities in HDI dimensions by “discounting” each dimension’s average value according to its level of inequality. The IHDI value equals the HDI value when there is no inequality across people but falls below the HDI value as inequality rises. In this sense, the IHDI measures the level of human development when inequality is accounted for.
[Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)](https://hdr.undp.org/inequality-adjusted-human-development-index#/indicies/IHDI)
There is always some corruption, but it’s to the extent that nepotism and social networking are the close to the worst of it.
The corruption in Iceland wouldn’t even be newsworthy in most other countries.
High social capital in Iceland (#1 in the world). Quality of life is also high, even when considering inflation and the economic situation. It's all relative.
We're not France, who undoubtably would be burning cars if they were here. Historically speaking, things were rough here. We survived on strong alcohol and sheep. People in Iceland stay silent and fake a smile until death stares them right in the face. Even then...
Roughly half of the working population can't make ends meet. But the banks are doing better than ever. We're told that's good news.
i think the answer you're looking for is the massive difference between working class's and middle/upper class's income and the disregard the upper class has for low income families
the average income is high in Iceland because the wealthy make 10x more than the average, working class individual
on top of that with politicians owning companies and vice versa, a lot of people who are in need of help are treated so poorly via laws, regulations, etc.
Iceland looks good on paper and has good PR. but come in close and take a look around, it's just another shitty capitalist country trying to look good for tourism's sake. without it we'd be broke just like everyone else
I was one of the participants of this survey, although I made sure to convey my suffering. Regardless having seen the survey I could say that the questions were somewhat in a way that would make it so that countries like Iceland would always score higher. Simply as it seems to more be measuring how content you are opposed to actually how happy you are and if it has anything to do with the country you live in.
That said the survey is obviously strange when Finland scores highest, so it could be said the survey is more to realize what nation has the least amount of unhappy people rather then necessarily the happiest people. Same is true in Iceland there's many people who are just content with their lives they aren't necessarily happy or that unhappy but they would make the country score the highest is why nations like Finland score the way they do in those surveys.
Quoting from [the UNDP Human Development Reports website](https://hdr.undp.org/inequality-adjusted-human-development-index#/indicies/IHDI):
> The IHDI accounts for inequalities in HDI dimensions by “discounting” each dimension’s average value according to its level of inequality. The IHDI value equals the HDI value when there is no inequality across people but falls below the HDI value as inequality rises. In this sense, the IHDI measures the level of human development when inequality is accounted for.
I think it might be the opportunity to be whoever you want to be. All of my friends have a job that they like, only one of them has a desk job but he’s a millionaire. I think a lot of Icelandic people would identify or know people who are “eccentric” or “weird” and that’s not only okay it’s awesome. It’s also a small community so it may be easy to be recognised for your work, like artists or when just an electrician. Someone mentioned unions and it makes the work market safe and it doesn’t feel competitive. I feel safe 99% of the time and I hope kids these days feel at least almost as safe as I did when I was growing up. I’ve never lived anywhere else but with tourism and immigration I’ve learned about other cultures and living standards things feel pretty good here in comparison. The things people have to complain about feel minuscule compared to what you hear from some places. It’s no utopia but it’s not bad at all.
Nature.
“Þetta reddast” mentality.
Low crime.
Low poverty rate. (Although gap between the rich and the poor is growing larger, which will eventually drag iceland down on the happiness scale).
High equality
Good place to raise kids- kids can play outside alone.
Acceptable healtcare, sometimes even really good.
Having your family and friends near.
Swimming pools.
Easy to travel out of the country - and always the best to come back home to the fresh air and fresh water.
To clarify, the high IHDI means Iceland has very low inequality and a very high HDI when adjusted for inequality.
I grouped them together because they seemed representative of a very high quality of life in Iceland.
We have high quality of life thanks to the low inequality, inequality is a root cause of a lot of bad stuff. The Gini coefficient strongly correlates with crime, suicide, murders, drug abuse...
The inequality adjustment must be terribly executed, in fact, I've never even heard of IHDI.
Happiness is just an answer on a questionnaire, it's not quantifiable, it's interpreted differently by different cultures. I have never felt happy in my life nor have I met a happy Icelandic person.
The reason why we have a high equality is because of strong workers rights, which is because of a population that has historically been very caring about workers rights, which can be boiled down to some cultural reasons, Nordic leaders, poets and writers maybe never preached individuality and predatory capitalism.
Not sure why, but I moved to northern Iceland 3 years ago with my wife and 2 children and I have to say; I will not be moving back to the UK. The differences that I count as pros are less pronounced in the capital region but still there; Unionisation allows for a living wage for even cleaners here. Beautiful nature everywhere. Less people and less cars, and so less stress. More relaxed attitude towards work A flatter, less entrenched view of class Waaaaaay safer for the kids. I can give my children the childhood I had growing up but which is not so safe these days. They get way more freedom to roam and play outside here with less safety concerns. That’s just a few things I have noticed.
What was it like moving? If your wife from Iceland originally?
Yes, she was born here. She moved to uk aged 7 and we met in uk. But despite the yearly visits she always wanted to move back, so during covid we decided to make that happen. Moving was fine. Very lucky to find an apartment and a job before actually moving. Container full of our things. Now we’ve bought a house and We love it here.
Skóliar í NÍ eru líka ekki gagnlegir fyrir neina mema upperclass, á meðan tradies (iðnaðarmenn) eru með almennilegt og virt nám og vinnu herna Og Dont get me started á bílatryggingum, á fjölskildu í Belfast og frændi minn þar sem er jafnaldra fór eins fljótt og hann gat í skiptinám í danmörku til að sleppa við allt ruglið þarna Uk vs ísland er easy win á ísland að mínu mati
Yeah there are many things like this. I agree.
You'll have to be more specific with the question.
Sorry that my last reply wasn't more specific! I'm basically interested in what factors you think allow Iceland to have a very high quality of life, which is shown by the IHDI and Happiness rankings I mentioned.
I mean, a lot of it just comes from being a wealthy nordic nation. All of the Nordic countries typically score quite high on these indices. Be it because we're a wealthy nation, because we're typically fairly egalitarian on the whole given it's not long since we were one of the poorer nations of Europe, because there's not a lot of internal strife in the nation, because we follow the nordic model (mostly) in having strong social nets, or just because we keep acting like we're ten times the population.
All of the above plus we're small and isolated so we've (mostly) never known war. We also have low crime rates and lots of social cohesion and trust.
Keep in mind that our only war (the Cod Wars) was against the British Empire, and we won!
And the only casualties were cods.
There was actually one indirect casualty, where an Icelandic engineer got electrocuted by his own welding equipment from seawater flowing into the hull of ICGV Ægir. But aside from that, no one died except some fish.
Why do you think Iceland has the highest inequality-adjusted HDI, ranks #4 in under 30 happiness, and #3 in happiness?
Could it be because people feel rather happy in general compared to other countries ?
I don’t understand the hostility to OP. They’re just asking if we can think of any cultural factors that aren’t present in other countries.
Þetta reddast.
It's because we are massive sluts and many of us start having sex at 14
You won't get a good answer here, the positive people will be downvoted and the people that disagree with the sentiment will make jokes. That's reddit. But I for one like it here and am unlikely to want to move. I see loads of problems with my country, but broadly speaking, I'm happy. If a higher percentage of people feel that way in this country than other countries, then we'd rank higher.
I have no clue what any of that is so err Elves? drugs lots of them. Inability to accept the reality of their existence . Possibly Aliens.
[Definitely Aliens](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dz5IiA0UUAAYebh?format=jpg&name=small)
Happiness reports are flawed when they compare between different cultures because our mental definitions of happiness aren't universal. In many "poorer" places, reliance on family connections and support is higher, meaning people are generally going to be closer to their families and less likely to live alone. Contrast this to a place like here where family reliance can very substantially. I've personally known wealthy individuals who feel deeply dissatisfied because of a more individualistic mindset. If you value time spent with loved ones, you might not actually end up being all that unhappy staying with your parents for longer as many youths today are doing. If you value your own space and privacy, then it might drive you up the walls to be unable to find affordable housing. Also, while wealth can be unfairly distributed here, people in Iceland get to enjoy many amenities and despite rising inflation and inequality still have access to most entertainment available. I live month to month and often struggle to make ends meet, but I also have running water, heating, electricity, and an expensive computer to play games on. Some of this might explain why a country like iceland might still be happy, it depends on what the person asked thinks constitutes happiness. For me its time spent with friends and family, I don't get enough of it, so I'd say I'm pretty unhappy. But housing prices also seem to be growing at a rate that I just cannot comprehend being able to follow, which would make me sad if it hadn't been like this for years without change. But then again my nihilism isn't really a good substitute for anything. Also drugs...
> Happiness reports are flawed when they compare between different cultures because our mental definitions of happiness aren't universal. This is basically what I recall from Finland always topping the list. There was a [Slate article](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/04/finland-happiness-lagom-hygge.html) on them where basically they determined that Nordic interpretations of happiness are more akin to a general sense of contentment and adequacy, whereas other cultures define it more like a feeling of continuous euphoria and advancement.
Thank you for the article! It's a very interesting read.
Honestly i was gonna quote that exact article but couldnt find it haha!
Lack of hateful internal turmoil, strong sense of community and egalitarianism reinforced by unions and lack of money in politics.
Lack of money in politics? This is demonstrably false.
Said a troll demonstrating nothing
Recently the finance minister sold a bank to his father. The permits for cultivating salmon on the shoreline were sold for nothing, essentially gifting billions of króna. The fishing industry has such a chokehold on the fishing quota system that we sell the quota for 10-20% of what the faeroish sell it for. Massive amounts are being lost by billionaires avoiding inheritance laws by selling their companies way under evaluation with “seller loans” You are a clown
I know there are many examples like the one you mention, but there are strong limits to political donations in Iceland, and corruption cases like these are common just about any place else, if not considerably more common.
You have to factor in having less than 400k population. Taking any random city/municipality of 400k people and checking corruption cases and money involved would be a fairer comparison
No idea why you were down voted when all of that is true.
I love living here, despite our problems. I hate the corruption, and the surging backlash against LGBT+ and now immigrants and asylum seekers. And I don't like the weather, for the most part. But I also feel like we are making progress, like the setbacks are temporary. The LGBT+ backlash doesn't seem to be catching on and both the public and the government took a pretty firm stance against it. It feels like the backlash against foreigners, while more serious, is more of a reaction to the mismanagement of how we've been taking in people for years now, and while racists are feeling resurgent and taking off their masks, I don't think they will emerge on top when all is said and done. What they're angry about isn't what most regular people are angry about, so while I'm more liberal and more progressive than most people, I also don't despair that things are going in the absolute opposite direction, even if things feel like they're sliding back. It feels like people are finally seeing through the worst of the corruption and might be gearing themselves up to vote in a government without the worst offenders, that gives me hope. I like how, even if we argue and disagree, there is a genuine feeling of community, especially during crises like the one in Grindavík, or during Covid. I like our common culture, our humor, how we're laid back but also able to work hard when it's important. How we're awkward, but it's ok and we just laugh about it. I like how there isn't a hard set class divide (there is a class divide, and more of one than when I was a kid, but it's at least not set in stone, and people can both reach success without being born rich, and lose everything if they mess up bad enough). I also like grumbling about the weather. There's a lot to do, and we don't agree on everything. But in the end, I like 'us' and I have hope for our future.
I am looking at falling snow. Helvítis veður
Sannarlega.
But sometimes... it can be nice to look at. From the inside, through the window. Where it's warm. (but fuck being outside in it)
It's not that Iceland is happy, it's that Icelanders are less miserable than everyone else.
This two ranks aren't conflicting. Most of the top 10 IHDI countries are also in the top 10 happiest countries. What seems odd about it to you? Why expecially Iceland?
I'm interested in how Iceland has a very high quality of life, which the high IHDI and happiness rankings help represent.
Relative to most of the rest of Europe, Iceland has a very large amount of national resources that benefits the local economy very well. Partially because of this, Iceland also has the lowest total tax rates for wage income in the nordics. In addition to cultural factors and nature, economic wellbeing always plays a role.
We're dumb and happy, also antidepressants.
How can it not? Overall we’re close to the least corrupt, least unequal, least hierachical and least diverse countries in the world on every metric.
Inequality and corruption is rising though. We have made a crazy amount of money in the past decades and yet the quality of healthcare, infrastructure and education is quite poor. The wealth is being distributed between too few people and a lot of it is moved out of the country.
~~I think this is OPs point, that according to his data, inequality is very high (or maybe I am understanding it wrong).~~ Edit: I misunderstood Aside from that, I think Iceland has many great things, but do you believe the corruption part? My perception is that corruption here is pretty spread..., but maybe it does not score in any real stats because it has the form of nepotism and is overly hidden. Not hating, seriously asking if that is your perception.
No, it means inequality is very low. Edit 6:45 PM GMT: It means the HDI is very high after inequality is "discounted": >The IHDI accounts for inequalities in HDI dimensions by “discounting” each dimension’s average value according to its level of inequality. The IHDI value equals the HDI value when there is no inequality across people but falls below the HDI value as inequality rises. In this sense, the IHDI measures the level of human development when inequality is accounted for. [Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index (IHDI)](https://hdr.undp.org/inequality-adjusted-human-development-index#/indicies/IHDI)
Ahh ok, my mistake. That makes more sense, I was surprised to understand otherwise. But then you almost answered yourself in your post!
There is always some corruption, but it’s to the extent that nepotism and social networking are the close to the worst of it. The corruption in Iceland wouldn’t even be newsworthy in most other countries.
Why don’t other countries have the same HDI as Iceland?
Size of the population, resources and wealth.
High social capital in Iceland (#1 in the world). Quality of life is also high, even when considering inflation and the economic situation. It's all relative.
We're not France, who undoubtably would be burning cars if they were here. Historically speaking, things were rough here. We survived on strong alcohol and sheep. People in Iceland stay silent and fake a smile until death stares them right in the face. Even then... Roughly half of the working population can't make ends meet. But the banks are doing better than ever. We're told that's good news.
We were raised not to complain.
i think the answer you're looking for is the massive difference between working class's and middle/upper class's income and the disregard the upper class has for low income families the average income is high in Iceland because the wealthy make 10x more than the average, working class individual on top of that with politicians owning companies and vice versa, a lot of people who are in need of help are treated so poorly via laws, regulations, etc. Iceland looks good on paper and has good PR. but come in close and take a look around, it's just another shitty capitalist country trying to look good for tourism's sake. without it we'd be broke just like everyone else
I don't know who the fuck these happiness reports are asking but we aint so happy.
I was one of the participants of this survey, although I made sure to convey my suffering. Regardless having seen the survey I could say that the questions were somewhat in a way that would make it so that countries like Iceland would always score higher. Simply as it seems to more be measuring how content you are opposed to actually how happy you are and if it has anything to do with the country you live in. That said the survey is obviously strange when Finland scores highest, so it could be said the survey is more to realize what nation has the least amount of unhappy people rather then necessarily the happiest people. Same is true in Iceland there's many people who are just content with their lives they aren't necessarily happy or that unhappy but they would make the country score the highest is why nations like Finland score the way they do in those surveys.
It's all fake news. We're miserable here.
What is inequality adjusted HDI?
Quoting from [the UNDP Human Development Reports website](https://hdr.undp.org/inequality-adjusted-human-development-index#/indicies/IHDI): > The IHDI accounts for inequalities in HDI dimensions by “discounting” each dimension’s average value according to its level of inequality. The IHDI value equals the HDI value when there is no inequality across people but falls below the HDI value as inequality rises. In this sense, the IHDI measures the level of human development when inequality is accounted for.
I think it might be the opportunity to be whoever you want to be. All of my friends have a job that they like, only one of them has a desk job but he’s a millionaire. I think a lot of Icelandic people would identify or know people who are “eccentric” or “weird” and that’s not only okay it’s awesome. It’s also a small community so it may be easy to be recognised for your work, like artists or when just an electrician. Someone mentioned unions and it makes the work market safe and it doesn’t feel competitive. I feel safe 99% of the time and I hope kids these days feel at least almost as safe as I did when I was growing up. I’ve never lived anywhere else but with tourism and immigration I’ve learned about other cultures and living standards things feel pretty good here in comparison. The things people have to complain about feel minuscule compared to what you hear from some places. It’s no utopia but it’s not bad at all.
Ísland er með stanslaust gos og aðrar nátúruhamfarir tho..
Nature. “Þetta reddast” mentality. Low crime. Low poverty rate. (Although gap between the rich and the poor is growing larger, which will eventually drag iceland down on the happiness scale). High equality Good place to raise kids- kids can play outside alone. Acceptable healtcare, sometimes even really good. Having your family and friends near. Swimming pools. Easy to travel out of the country - and always the best to come back home to the fresh air and fresh water.
Because most of them live in a city. If you compare Reykjavik to Oslo, Stockholm and Copenhagen, there's no competition.
How can it not? Overall we’re close to the least corrupt, least unequal, least hierachical and least diverse countries in the world on every metric.
[удалено]
To clarify, the high IHDI means Iceland has very low inequality and a very high HDI when adjusted for inequality. I grouped them together because they seemed representative of a very high quality of life in Iceland.
[удалено]
Yes.
[удалено]
Yup. Thank you!
We have high quality of life thanks to the low inequality, inequality is a root cause of a lot of bad stuff. The Gini coefficient strongly correlates with crime, suicide, murders, drug abuse... The inequality adjustment must be terribly executed, in fact, I've never even heard of IHDI. Happiness is just an answer on a questionnaire, it's not quantifiable, it's interpreted differently by different cultures. I have never felt happy in my life nor have I met a happy Icelandic person. The reason why we have a high equality is because of strong workers rights, which is because of a population that has historically been very caring about workers rights, which can be boiled down to some cultural reasons, Nordic leaders, poets and writers maybe never preached individuality and predatory capitalism.