This fully revised and updated edition of Happiness provides an accessible introduction to the concept of happiness and how it can be applied to public policy in order to help citizens achieve the good life.

Countries around the globe want to ensure the best for their citizens. They want them to be happy, have a good life and improve their well-being. It follows that, whilst happiness is based upon individuals’ subjective perception of their own situation, it is important to understand the concept of happiness in order to form policies that might help individuals to achieve what they believe will make them happier. Applying approaches from disciplines across the social sciences, this book explores varying notions of happiness and how these can be applied to create a theoretical understanding of happiness as a concept. The book then demonstrates how the concept of happiness can be used to analyse social policy in welfare states in areas including work, health and migration, as well as to evaluate everyday life and social relationships.

This book will be essential reading for students and instructors in a range of subjects in the humanities and social sciences with an interest in the concept of happiness and/or welfare states.