Well, a definite prerequisite seems to be a large social safety net, as most of the countries there come from what some would call the failed European welfare model. From the link,
I think this would play a huge role, and I'd say stability and not knowing you're going to get laid off and lose the house is much bigger than the size of your car or other materialist concerns, as we seem to associate with happiness here. Also, it seems that in many European countries there is a greater seperation between work and home then there is in the US. I think we in the US have a major problem when it comes to how far we'll push people in order to squeeze out every ounce of productivity. Longer hours with less pay in order to keep your job, house, car, etc, would be unheard of in many of the countries in the top 10.
Yes and no. Denmark has consistently been in the top 5 for many years in these surveys and top 10 since the start and it is only recently that our unemployment has gone down to those levels (and it is going up now again btw). Unemployment is a factor of course, but the impact of a high rate can be minimized by having a safety net that provides for people if and when you do get to be unemployed (up to a point of course) and also provides for people to reinvent themselves by further education and so on and helping to start businesses up. People simply dont worry that much. All this adds to the "happiness" factor.
On top of that family and social aspects are important also, and here the amount of time worked comes into the picture. If you look at many of the countries in the top 10, their productivity is high, GDP is high, income equality is more "fair" and so on, and yet they have the social safety nets, free schools and so on that provide for a safe mindset that in turn provides more happiness and all have relatively lower working weeks. That of course does not mean that we dont work more than the 35 hours a week.. we do, but no one can force us to work more than 35 hours a week if we dont want to.. that is the difference..
On the other hand you have the US where people work themselves to death (relatively speaking) and yet they are not that happy. And in a way I understand it. American productivity with this worker mentality is no higher (even lower) than places like Denmark, Germany, Japan, and yet they work far less and are as rich if not richer (GDP/captia) as the US. So all this work gives no benefit really.
Seems to me for an American, work and wealth is a road to "happiness" where as Europeans see work more as a means to have a social and family life.
Personally I think income equality is a major factor, as those countries in the top are those where the equality is best, and those lower down have higher (often much higher) inequality.
Of course, I would never give up my freedom to have low taxes so I can buy an SUV, even if my blood pressure will be through the roof from all the traffic jams I'll have to sit through everyday.
That is another difference between Europeans and Americans. The view of taxes. While no one likes taxes, most Europeans accept that taxes are needed to maintain the society they have built over the decades and maintain that happiness. It is a small price to pay so to say. If you ask an European about UHC, free schools and so on and if they were willing to give it up for say 20% less (in %) in taxes, then most will say no.
On the other hand Americans see any form of taxes as "taking their freedoms" from them, which I have yet to get explained how..
But newsflash.. I can as a Dane goto a private hospital, get private health insurance, unemployment insurance, buy an SUV (although why would I), have several homes in several countries, move around where ever I want, work where I want, do what I want and buy what I want and if I see fit, start a business in any industry I want.. how different is that from an American?
No difference, other than I dont have to buy private health insurance because I have UHC and I already pay into basic unemployment insurance over certain taxes.. although a huge portion of Danes pay into a private unemployment insurance as part of their union dues.
So what "freedoms" are taken away from me as a Dane?
Interesting about UK/France being near the bottom though. Definitely something else at play. I'd say constant dismal weather would play a role if it was just the UK, but I'm pretty sure France gets a lot of sunshine.
Not surprised about the UK one bit. The income inequality in the country is huge for European standards and other issues magnify the "unhappiness" of Brits.
France a bit more, but that can be explained by social issues and mentality. The French love to complain
But here I suspect unemployment factors pay a large part in the unhappiness regardless of the safety nets and so on. Long term unemployment in France has always been high due to the very poor labour laws France has. Add to that social frictions between certain areas of French society, and then you get a lower happiness factor.