Is Taiwan the happiest place in Asia?

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Growing up, Huang Wen-chun remembers listening to friends and household kick astir beingness successful Taiwan. So erstwhile she saw quality reports declaring Taiwan the happiest spot successful Asia, she couldn’t assistance but consciousness a consciousness of pride.

“When I was young, everyone believed that the satellite was rounder abroad,” said the 25-year-old freelance idiosyncratic successful Taipei. “As I got older, I realized determination are truthful galore ways successful which Taiwan surpasses everyplace else.”

According to the yearly World Happiness Report, the land ideology has surpassed Singapore arsenic the happiest spot successful Asia. Globally Taiwan ranked 27th, portion the apical 3 spots went to Finland, Denmark and Iceland.

The report, which draws connected Gallup World Poll data, is compiled by asking much than 100,000 participants successful implicit 140 countries to fertile their lives connected a standard from 1, worst possible, to 10, champion possible. Taiwan averaged a effect of 6.669 implicit the past 3 years.

The World Happiness Report besides cited factors specified arsenic having idiosyncratic to number on, economical development, steadfast beingness expectancy, generosity and the state of prime and state from corruption arsenic reasons for a feeling of contentment. It besides attributed precocious levels of happiness to activities specified arsenic volunteering and sharing meals with others.

One happening Huang appreciates astir Taiwan is the consciousness of safety. When she was a precocious schoolhouse student, she visited Oakland connected a travel to California, wherever thieves broke into her family’s car. Then they were targeted by scammers, who claimed they were sent to tow the car. When her begetter asked astir a replacement vehicle, they drove away.

“In Taiwan, I ne'er had to interest astir this benignant of thing,” she said.

Office workers commune for concern prosperity arsenic their institution reopens aft Chinese New Year holidays successful Taipei, Taiwan, successful February 2020.

(DAVID CHANG/EPA-EFE/REX/DAVID CHANG/EPA-EFE/REX)

In interviews, Taiwanese pointed to cosmopolitan healthcare, an unfastened and affable society, state of look and convenience successful regular beingness arsenic different imaginable contributors to section happiness. But immoderate residents were not convinced that Taiwan should fertile the highest successful happiness successful each of Asia.

“Right now, I don’t consciousness peculiarly happy, due to the fact that of the pressures of inflation,” said 55-year-old Shen Shi-hung, who runs a nutrient stall successful Taipei. “But connected the whole, Taiwanese radical are precise affable and the prime of beingness is precise good.”

Yu Ruoh-rong, a prof astatine Taipei-based probe instauration Academia Sinica, said that portion the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with loneliness, her probe indicated that astir Taiwanese radical had reverted backmost to their erstwhile societal lives. “Even radical who are azygous oregon unrecorded unsocial look to easy stitchery with friends, and find radical to stock meals with,” she added.

Yu, who has helped the Taiwanese authorities behaviour happiness surveys, said that specified reports often garner reactions of astonishment from the wide public. She said that portion younger generations person immoderate frustrations with economical stagnation, their consciousness of good being rates higher than anterior generations.

Stagnant wage maturation and precocious lodging prices are communal complaints among Taiwanese. “When I saw the quality I was a spot confused,” said Shen Wan-ju, a 37-year-old accountant successful Taipei. “I consciousness similar the wage maturation is not rather keeping up with the summation successful our outgo of living,” she continued, adding that the outgo of raising kids puts a batch of unit connected parents. While Shen does not person children, she has watched her member enactment hard to nonstop his 2 sons to bully schools.

“Honestly, it seems truly hard to beryllium parents. The outgo of providing a bully acquisition for your kid is getting higher,” she said.

Taiwan’s commencement complaint has fallen truthful debased that it’s considered a nationalist crisis, prompting the authorities to supply much fiscal enactment and matchmaking services for singles. Last year, the fertility rate, oregon the fig of children the mean pistillate volition carnivore successful her lifetime, was 0.885, among the lowest successful the world.

The rubric of “happiest spot successful Asia,” besides coincides with expanding subject threats from China, which claims the self-governed land arsenic a portion of its territory. In 2021, the Economist labeled Taiwan “the astir unsafe spot connected Earth.”

But Tony Yang, a prof successful wellness argumentation astatine the George Washington University School of Nursing, said the quality of Taiwanese to accommodate to adversity specified arsenic ongoing tensions with China and spot happiness arsenic a fluctuating information lend to the prime of life.

“Despite persistent threats, regular beingness proceeds with singular normalcy and optimism,” helium wrote successful an op-ed for the Taipei Times. “This is not denial, but an quality to clasp contradictory realities simultaneously — acknowledging threats portion refusing to fto them predominate our corporate consciousness.”