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- World Happiness Report 2025 | University of Oxford & Gallup (2025)
World Happiness Report 2025 | University of Oxford & Gallup (2025)
“Caring, sharing, and supporting behaviours at work are now stronger predictors of happiness than income.” The World Happiness Report 2025 reveals how human connection fuels performance and resilience — and offers a blueprint for designing thriving workplaces. If you're shaping the future of work, this report provides data-backed strategies to humanise it.
Tanguy Dulac
March 26, 2025
UNLEASH WORKFORCE SUCCESS
World Happiness Report 2025 | University of Oxford & Gallup (2025) | “Caring, sharing, and supporting behaviours at work are now stronger predictors of happiness than income.” The World Happiness Report 2025 reveals how human connection fuels performance and resilience — and offers a blueprint for designing thriving workplaces. If you're shaping the future of work, this report provides data-backed strategies to humanise it.
📊 DID YOU KNOW?
Did you know that a single act of kindness — like helping a stranger — can lift your happiness more than a promotion or a pay rise?
✨ OVERVIEW
The World Happiness Report 2025 shifts the spotlight from individual emotions to collective behaviours. Through eight chapters, it explores how interpersonal dynamics — from sharing meals to offering support — shape happiness. The findings are profound: social trust, perceived kindness, prosocial behaviour, and household connectedness are key predictors of well-being. A blueprint for thriving at work emerges: environments where care is mutual, connection is deliberate, and support is both institutional and personal. This year's report doesn't just describe a happier world; it outlines how to build one.
🧩 CONTEXT
Work is no longer just a place for tasks — it's where people seek meaning, belonging, and psychological safety. Yet trends show rising loneliness, especially among young adults, and a growing gap in social support. From 2006 to 2023, the proportion of young adults with no one to count on rose by 39%. Meanwhile, solitary dining increased by 53% in the United States alone. These aren’t just lifestyle shifts; they are wellbeing alarms. This year’s report investigates how micro-behaviours like meal sharing, volunteering, and emotional support shape broader well-being outcomes — with critical implications for workplace culture.
🔍 WHY IT MATTERS
↳ Kindness fuels well-being more than income or freedom—Expected kindness (e.g., the likelihood of a lost wallet being returned) has nearly twice the impact on happiness as actual benevolent acts. Where people believe in the goodness of others, well-being thrives.
↳ Loneliness is growing rapidly among young workers—In 2023, 19% of young adults reported having no one for social support. This isolation erodes resilience and increases susceptibility to stress and burnout.
↳ Prosocial behaviour reduces deaths of despair — A 10 percentage-point increase in volunteering, donating, or helping is linked to 1 fewer deaths per 100,000 people annually, underscoring the societal value of care.
↳ Meal-sharing is as impactful as income—People who regularly share meals report higher life satisfaction, with effects comparable to employment or income levels. Yet solo dining is on the rise, particularly in high-income countries.
↳ Family and living arrangements matter—Household size up to four correlates with higher well-being. Living alone or in huge households is associated with lower life satisfaction, pointing to the value of balance and emotional proximity.
💡 KEY INSIGHTS
↳ The Benevolence Bump is Real—Helping strangers remains 18% higher than in 2017–2019. This sustained increase from the pandemic shows how small acts of kindness ripple through society.
↳ Assumed Apathy is a Barrier—Many young adults avoid connection because they assume peers don't care. Interventions that reveal peer empathy significantly increase interaction and well-being.
↳ Trust Drives Systems Engagement—Unhappy, low-trust individuals lean right; unhappy, high-trust individuals lean left. Trust affects politics and influences how employees engage with workplace systems.
↳ Intentional Giving Fuels Happiness—Donations create well-being when voluntary, intentional, and impactful—a lesson for corporate giving and employee volunteering programmes.
↳ Support Works Best by Design—Prosocial behaviours yield more when they occur in environments that prioritise connection, autonomy, and visible outcomes — all of which can be embedded in workplace culture.
🚀 ACTIONS FOR LEADERS
Let’s reframe actions into a strategic, easy-to-remember framework: CARE. CONNECT. CONTRIBUTE.
🤝 CARE
↳ Embed Caring Behaviours into Your Culture—Recognise, reward, and role-model acts of kindness. From helping a colleague to championing mental health, these build trust and resilience.
🧩 CONNECT
↳ Create Rituals for Connection—Schedule regular team lunches, peer learning circles, or 10-minute check-ins. These simple touchpoints foster belonging and counteract isolation.
↳ Design for Inclusive Social Connection—Adapt social initiatives to suit diverse cultures, household types, and care responsibilities. Ensure everyone has access to belonging.
🎯 CONTRIBUTE
↳ Make Support Visible and Accessible—Highlight mental health services, peer support options, and internal mobility opportunities. Employees need to know where to turn.
↳ Reframe Giving as Strategy, Not Charity—Align volunteering and giving programmes with employee values and impact metrics. Purpose-driven contribution boosts morale and engagement.
🔗 CONCLUSION
Thriving at work requires more than perks and pay rises. As the World Happiness Report 2025 reveals, the foundation lies in relational infrastructure: genuine connection, social trust, and everyday acts of care. By reframing the workplace as a site of human flourishing—not just performance—leaders can unlock profound gains in well-being, loyalty, and resilience.
It’s time to stop designing workplaces for output and start designing them for well-being. The next competitive advantage isn’t tech or strategy—it’s humanity.
🎯 KEY TAKEAWAY
People don’t just work better where kindness and connection flourish—they thrive.