Friday, October 13, 2017

Gross National Happiness


To understand the way Bhutan calculates its Gross National Happiness, we should recall the way we were marked and graded in our school and college days. In India, each subject was awarded a maximum of 100 marks, with 35 or 40 as a passing threshold.  Students received a distinction, first, second or third class as grades based on the sum of marks translated in a percent score. Instead of Bachelor of Arts or Science, imagine yourself appearing for a “Bachelor of Happiness” degree with the following nine subjects, all carrying equal weight.

1.       Psychological well being
2.      Health
3.      Time use
4.      Education
5.      Cultural diversity and resilience
6.      Good governance
7.      Community vitality
8.     Ecological diversity and resilience
9.      Living standards

Before describing each, let me explain the concept of thresholds.

Thresholds
The GNH index uses two kinds of thresholds or cut offs: Sufficiency thresholds and a happiness threshold.

Sufficiency thresholds are like passing marks. It asks ‘how much is enough to be happy’. For example, in Bhutan, an income of 1.5 times the poverty line income is considered sufficient for the earner to be happy. In affluent countries, a car and a bedroom of your own may be a sufficiency threshold. (Ownership of twenty cars and a house with fifty bedrooms may not result in exponential happiness. No matter how well you write an exam paper, you will never get more than 100%).  

The second cut off is the happiness threshold. It asks ‘how many domains or in what percentage of indicators must a person achieve sufficiency in order to be understood as happy?’ In other words, you will get your ‘Bachelor of happiness’ if you cross the sufficiency thresholds (receive pass marks) in at least 66% of the indicators. Why is GNH marked at 66%? Because the system is subjective, and people are diverse. For example, spirituality is one of the indicators. An atheist may discard it (not pass in that subject), but still be happy because he has achieved sufficiency in so many other indicators.

Each Bhutanese citizen is interviewed as part of the GNH survey. Based on his or her answers, a score is created. The person gets classified into one of four categories. Following are the results of Bhutan’s 2015 survey.
2015 GNH survey
Score range
% of Bhutanese
Deeply Happy
77%-100%
8.4%
Extensively Happy
66%-76%
35.0%
Narrowly Happy
50%-65%
47.9%
Unhappy
0%-49%
8.8%

Is Bhutan the happiest nation, because it invented GNH? Not at all, and the kingdom doesn’t claim to be. By quantifying happiness in detail, Bhutan can keep reshaping its politics and public policy in order to improve the score. The national index in 2015 was 0.756, an improvement over 0.743 in 2010.

Let me now briefly talk of the nine domains and the 33 indicators that are part of those domains.

Psychological well-being
Indicators: (a) Life satisfaction, (b) emotional balance (positive and negative emotions) and (c) spirituality.

Life satisfaction is a person’s self-assessment based on his health, occupation, family, standard of living and work-life balance, each measured on a scale of 1-5. The highest score is 25, whereas the sufficiency threshold is set at 19.

Compassion, generosity, forgiveness, contentment and calmness are the positive emotions, while selfishness, jealousy, anger, fear and worry are the negative or ‘disturbing’ emotions. Both are rated on a scale of 1 (never) to 5 (very much).

Spirituality is self assessed but also asks about the person’s view on karma, his engagement in prayers and meditation. This factor would be less relevant in places like Europe or USA.

Health
Indicators: (a) Self-reported health status (b) Number of healthy days (c) disability (d) mental health

Typically, a Bhutanese individual is said to be well only if heat and pain are absent from the body and sorrow is absent from the mind. The sufficiency threshold for healthy days has been set at 26 days a month. The mental health indicator consists of 12 questions that can decipher depression, anxiety as well as confidence and concentration levels of the respondent.

Health, in my view, is critical for happiness. I know of a couple of multi-millionaires each spending the last decade in a wheelchair constantly shuttling between home and hospital.

Time Use
Indicators: (a) Paid work (b) Unpaid work (c) Sleeping hours

Working hours under GNH include unpaid work such as childcare, household work and voluntary work. Eight hours a day is the legal limit. Those who work longer are identified as ‘time deprived’. Many Bhutanese women, and people in Eastern Bhutan suffer from time deprivation.

Eight hours’ sleep is considered necessary for a well-functioning body. Those sleeping short hours are ‘sleep deprived’.

Shortage of sleep due to overwork is a double whammy. It deprives a person of free time as well as sleep.

Education
Indicators: (a) Literacy (b) schooling (c) knowledge (d) value

The holistic approach values deep foundation in traditional knowledge, common values and skills. The primary task of education, formal or otherwise, is the creation of good human beings. That’s why the indicator includes the cultivation and transmission of values.

Reading/writing in one language and six years of schooling are sufficiency thresholds.
The five knowledge variables are interesting. Knowledge of (1) local legends and folk stories, (2) local festivals, (3) traditional songs, (4) HIV-AIDS transmission and (5) constitution.

In values, respondents are asked how justifiable the five destructive actions are: killing, stealing, lying, creating disharmony in relationships and sexual misconduct.

Cultural diversity and resilience
Indicators: (a) Speak native language (b) artisan skills (c) socio-cultural activities (d) Driglam Namzha (the way of harmony)

In Bhutan, the sufficiency threshold is very high for speaking the native language, since almost everyone is fluent in his/her mother tongue. (Not the case in elite or elitist India).
The 13 arts and crafts include weaving, embroidery, painting, carpentry, carving, sculpture, casting, blacksmithing, bamboo works, gold/silver- smithing, masonry, leather works and papermaking. (This is one indicator where I fail miserably).

Respondents are asked the number of days they participated in socio-cultural activities in the past 12 months. The sufficiency threshold is 6-12 days a year.

Driglam Namzha is the expected behaviour on formal occasions. For example, at Indian weddings, Indian women wear colourful, silk sarees. If respondents perceive this as important, they score higher. The assumption is that valuing traditions grows happiness.

Good Governance
Indicators: (a) Political participation (b) Fundamental rights (c) Service delivery (d) Government performance

Political participation is assessed based on your inclination to vote in the next election, and the frequency of your attending the community meetings.

Fundamental rights include freedom of speech and opinion, to vote, to form or join any political party, equal access to join public service, equal pay for work of equal value, non-discrimination based on race or gender.

Service delivery is measured by your access to the nearest health care centre, waste disposal method, access to electricity and clean water supply. If you dispose trash by composting/burning/ municipal garbage pickup, you are doing fine. If your answer is to dump in forests/dump in rivers, then you are deprived.

You assess your government’s efficiency by rating their performance in the last 12 months on seven objectives: employment, equality, education, health, anti-corruption, environment and culture. Each is rated on a scale of 1 to 5; the maximum value for this indicator is 35. A sufficiency threshold is set at 28; meaning a ‘good’ or ‘very good’ rating is needed in at least five objectives.

It is noteworthy that your method of waste disposal or your government’s performance affect not only the nation’s happiness but your individual happiness as well.

Community Vitality
Indicators: (a) Donating time and money (b) Community relationships (c) Family

GNH philosophy expects strong relationships among the community members and within families, socially constructive values, volunteering and donating time and money, and safety from violence and crime. These are considered fundamental to community development.

For donation, (1) donating 10% of your income and volunteering 3 days a year or (2) donating 20% of your income or (3) volunteering for more than 6 days a year are the sufficiency thresholds.

Community relationships are judged by your ‘sense of belonging’ and ‘trust in neighbours’.
For assessing safety, respondents are asked whether they have been a victim of crime in the past 12 months. The question requires a yes or no, and the threshold is set at “no”.

Ecological Diversity and Resilience
Indicators: (a) Wildlife damage (b) Urban issues (c) Environmental responsibility (d) Pollution

This domain explains why Bhutan doesn’t welcome tourists. Tourism can be a grand business for Bhutan, the GDP would grow dramatically, but the pollution would go up and wildlife may get damaged. Happiness will fall just as GDP grows. (Indian tourists are reluctantly allowed because India takes care of Bhutan’s defence. China swallowing Bhutan like it did with Tibet is an existential threat. Execution of that threat would turn Bhutan into a very unhappy nation, perhaps no longer a kingdom.).  

The Constitution of Bhutan expects every Bhutanese citizen “to contribute to the protection of the natural environment, conservation of the rich biodiversity of Bhutan and prevention of all forms of ecological degradation including noise, visual and physical pollution.” (Article 5)

The wildlife indicator asks for information on damage to crops.
Respondents are asked to report their worries on four urban issues: traffic congestion, inadequate green spaces, lack of pedestrian streets and urban sprawl. This indicator acts as a substitute for sustainable urban development.

Living Standards
Indicators: (a) Household income (b) Assets (c) Housing quality

This area refers to the material wellbeing of the Bhutanese people.
While we may think of a mobile phone, TV, computer, refrigerator or bicycle as assets, for many Bhutanese, livestock and farming land are the primary assets. Focus group discussions in rural districts concluded that five acres was the sufficiency threshold for a rural family of five people.

The quality of housing is composed of three indicators: the type of roofing, type of toilet and room ratio. Corrugated galvanised iron (CGI) or concrete brick or stone for roofing, pit latrine with septic tank for toilet and two persons per room are the thresholds and all three must be met.

Deeply happy
Having looked at the nine domains and the thirty-three indicators, let us look at the profile of the “Deeply Happy” people in Bhutan, 8.3% of the Bhutanese population. Two thirds of them are male, one third female. 70% live in rural areas, 30% in urban areas. 60% of them are aged 40 or less. 84% are married, and 12% are never married. (Meaning you are unlikely to be deeply happy if you are divorced, separated or widowed. If any of the three, please remarry as soon as possible for deep happiness). 

Of course, the Bhutanese GNH structure is not perfect. A creative person, despite meeting all other indicators, may be unhappy if he is not creating enough. Such instances don’t seem to be covered. However, What GNH does is to try to quantify happiness. In India, as children, we were told that happiness is a state of mind. Now fifty years later, I will dispute that. A terminally ill cancer patient in pain, a worker perennially harassed by his boss, a man wrongfully sent to jail, a chronically hungry person, a flying executive with no time to sleep are all people who can’t be happy. GNH, however subjective, tries to systematically measure happiness so that the individual and the nation can take steps to enhance it.

In a hypothetical survey to measure my own happiness, I found myself not reaching the threshold in artisan skills, not happy with the government performance, living in excessively damaged and polluted environment, and without assets worth talking about. On the other hand, I am doing fine with mental and physical health, time use, education, human interaction, donating time and money and fundamental freedoms. Overall, I score about 80% and can count myself as deeply happy. What about you?

Ravi
Further reading for those interested
This eight page summary offers the results of the GNH research of 2015.
(2)              http://www.oecd.org/site/ssfc2011/48920513.pdf
A 35-slide presentation by Sabina Alkire from Oxford University, made in 2011.
(3)              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jf9xrnUjpI
a 12 minute film on GNH
World happiness report. Excellent case study on Bhutan’s GNH between pages 108- 146. The primary source of this article.
The dates for the next GNH conference in Bhutan next month.
Another 100-page authoritative guide.
(7)              http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2017/
The world happiness report inspired originally by Bhutan’s GNH is now produced annually. It is also holistic, but uses different indicators. In 2017, Norway is the happiest country, followed by Denmark, Iceland and Switzerland. The headlines include ‘Chinese people not happier than 25 years ago’, ‘Africa struggling’, and ‘happiness falling in America’. America, ranked 3rd ten years ago, was 19th  in 2016. India fell from 118th to 122nd position.

R. 

2 comments:

  1. How does matriarchy influence the development of these systems in BHUTAN?

    ReplyDelete