The science of happiness, unemployment, inflation, populism and One Nation

July 7, 2026 — 7:30pm

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Here’s a paradox for you. Australia is rich – extraordinarily rich. Among the richest countries in the world on a GDP-per-person basis.

Our economy is growing faster than the average developed country, and is forecast to continue doing so. Unemployment is near historic lows, and probably within the range where there is little remaining slack within the economy.

Yet, our happiness is tracking down.

Polling by the Australian National University in March found “average life satisfaction” had dropped to its lowest point since the poll started in 2019.

Deakin University, which started its poll in 2002, found the same slump in 2024.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has been tracking life satisfaction since 2014. The score has been falling each time it’s tallied.

That’s not to say Australians are unhappy. Our life satisfaction is relatively robust: on the ANU’s polling, it has dropped from a high of about 7/10 in 2019 to about 6.2/10 in 2026.

The measure is robust, but the trend is intriguing and picked up in many places. Consider, for example, how support for the populist grievance politics of One Nation has exploded in the past six........

© The Age