NOT SO MISERABLE. People are proving surprisingly resilient in the crisis. A full-blown global pandemic that has claimed over 2 million lives and disrupted the global economy did not significantly dent people’s perception of their own well-being. That’s according to the latest World Happiness Report. An analysis of responses polled by researcher Gallup globally in 2020 was on average consistent with data collected between 2017 and 2019, with Finland topping the happiness index for the fourth year in a row. Life satisfaction measured in a Eurobarometer poll across the European Union also barely changed in 2020 from 2019, the report says. Not everything was plain sailing. In the United Kingdom, 22% of respondents said their mental health was significantly worse than before Covid-19. However, trust in public institutions and society at large appears to have played a bigger role in boosting happiness than income or major health risks. In a pandemic, having a government you can count on to take the right action may be more important than ever. (By Lisa Jucca)