IDENTIFYING THE PROBLEM
Layard's book consists of two parts; Part 1; "The problem" and Part 2 "What can be done". Layard's problem is that Western people still want more income even though their income has risen considerably in the last 50 years without any substantial increase in average happiness. In explaining this paradox; also formulated by Easterlin in 1974, Layard puts a lot of weight on the effects of social comparison: our wants are not given but depend on what other people have. Social comparison implicates that people who make more money make other people less happy. Additional explanations are the frustration of two basic needs: the need for security and the need for trust in other people.
Layard posits that seven factors affect happiness in adult life; these "big seven" are:
1. Family relationships
2. Financial situation
3. Work
4. Community and friends
5. Health
6. Personal freedom
7. Personal values
The first five factors are given in order of "importance". In the last 50 years the financial situation of people, the quality of work and health have improved but family relationships, the strength and safety of communities and the prevalence of unselfish values have deteriorated.