Inequality-adjusted happiness is an index which denotes the degree to which a country combines a high average level of happiness with low inequality in happiness. The index gives equal weight to level and inequality of happiness.
Theoretical range is between 0 and 100.
Computation: IAH = 4 + 9.6 M – 3.97 SD, where: M is mean and SD is the standard deviation of a happiness distribution.
The concept and computation is discussed in Veenhoven, R. & Kalmijn, W. (2005) Inequality adjusted happiness in nations. Egalitarianism and utilitarianism married together in a new index of societal performance.
| Variant | Description | Code (1) | Nation | Since | Source Trend average happiness in nations + Trend inequality of happiness in nations |
| Inequality-adjusted happiness | Computed from M-hl3_us and SD-hl3_us | IAH_us | USA | 1946 | |
| Inequality-adjusted life satisfaction | Computed from M-ls4_be and SD-ls4_be | IAH_be | Belgium | 1973 | |
| Computed from M-ls4_de and SD-ls4_de | IAH_de | Germany (re-united) | 1990 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_dee and SD-ls4_dee | IAH_dee | Germany (former East) | 1990 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_dew and SD-ls4_dew | IAH_dew | Germany (former West) | 1973 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_dk and SD-ls4_dk | IAH_dk | Denmark | 1973 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_eu8 and SD-ls4_eu8 | IAH_eu8 | EU-8 (2) | 1973 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_fr and SD-ls4_fr | IAH_fr | France | 1973 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_gr and SD-ls4_gr | IAH_gr | Greece | 1981 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_ie and SD-ls4_ie | IAH_ie | Ireland | 1973 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_it and SD-ls4_it | IAH_it | Italy | 1973 | ||
| Computed from M-ls45_jp and SD-ls45_jp | IAH_jp | Japan | 1958 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_lu and SD-ls4_lu | IAH_lu | Luxemburg | 1973 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_nl and SD-ls4_nl | IAH_nl | Netherlands | 1973 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_pt and SD-ls4_pt | IAH_pt | Portugal | 1985 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_sp and SD-ls4_sp | IAH_sp | Spain | 1985 | ||
| Computed from M-ls4_uk and SD-ls4_uk | IAH_uk | UK (Great Britain) | 1973 | ||
1) Variable codes consist of two elements:
– IAH for inequality adjusted happinesss in the nation
– Nation code (two digit ISO code e.g., ‘be’ for Belgium)
2) Weighted average: EU-8 = Belgium x 0.037423 + Denmark x 0,19263 + France x 0,213337 + West-Germany x 0,243826 + Italy x 0,211549 + Luxembourg x 0,0001503 + Netherlands x 0,056975 + UK x 0,216118
Same variable in data file ‘States of Nations’: Inequality-adjusted happiness