Subjective wellbeing and income are intricately linked
NEW DELHI, India, Feb 19 2021 (IPS) – The question whether the rich are more satisfied with their lives is often taken for granted, even though surveys, like the Gallup World Poll, show that the relationship between subjective well-being and income is often weak, except in low-income countries in Africa and South Asia. Researcher Daniel Kahneman and his collaborators, for example, report that the correlation between household income and reported life satisfaction or happiness with life typically ranges from 0.15 to 0.30. There are a few plausible reasons. First, growth in income mostly has a transitory effect on individuals’ reported life satisfaction, as they adapt to material goods. Second, relative income, rather than the…
The writer is Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Safe Water Network
The UN will be commemorating World Water Day on Monday March 22.
COVID precautions at Safe Water Network iJal Station in India. Credit: Safe Water Network
NEW YORK, Mar 20 2021 (IPS) – The global community is celebrating . In the COVID-19 pandemic era, the importance and value of water for all people has never been clearer. Access to safe water is essential for public health and thriving communities.
Before COVID, , or about two-thirds of the world’s population, face severe water scarcity at least one month every year. One of the most important defenses against the c…
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine in Abuja, Nigeria, on March 6, 2021. First batch of COVAX vaccines arrived in March, country aims to inoculate 70% of 200 million people by 2022. Credit: Africa Renewal
UNITED NATIONS, May 4 2021 (IPS) – Since the COVID-19 vaccination began in the US in mid-December 2020, Africa had been looking forward to its turn. For Nigeria, that time came on 2nd March 2021 when the first batch of 3.9 million doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the country from the Serum Institute of India.
The delivery is part of a first phase of arrivals in Nigeria that will continue in the coming days and…
Participants in UN Women India’s Second Chance Educational and Vocational Learning Programme. Credit: UN Women
NEW DELHI, India, Jun 10 2021 (IPS) – Thousands of Indians have been affected by the latest COVID-19 outbreak. Not only those suffering from the disease, but also those who care for them.
Just as with the first wave and as with countless disasters before them, women have taken on the heavy burden of caring for the sick and finding ways to meet their family’s basic needs.
The combination of illness, unpaid care, economic slowdown, lack of access to financing for female entrepreneurs, and domestic violence has left many women unable to retu…
SINGAPORE, Jul 28 2021 (IPS) – After almost two decades, Golden Rice was approved last week by the Philippines authorities for use as food. This together with the approval of the bioengineered Bt eggplant represents a landmark victory of science over misinformation; it will provide consumers with improved nutrition (Golden Rice) and safer food (Bt eggplant).
Paul Teng
BIOTECHNOLOGY CROPS have been controversial in spite of overwhelming support for their safety by the scientific community. This is specially so for the class of biotechnology crops commonly called ‘GMO’ or genetically modified organism. The controversy has led to public concerns about their food safety, in …
An European Institute for Innovation and Sustainability (EIIS) programme focusses on production, distribution, and consumption issues of food systems. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS
NAIROBI, KENYA, Sep 22 2021 (IPS) – Food security experts have raised an alarm that with as many as 811 million people the world over or 10 percent of the global population going hungry, the world is off-track to ending hunger and malnutrition.
More so, after a decade of steadily declining, the number of malnourished people grew by 161 million from 2019 t…
[First of a two-part article]
Meeting of the Working Group on the National Mental Health Strategic Plan, April 2019
DHAKA, Oct 27 2021 (IPS) – Mental health is a state of well-being when both your body and your mind are in balance, and you are able to deal with the difficulties and challenges that come your way and easily find joy, peace, and happiness once the challenge is overcome. For many people though, the challenges often remain for too long the pain of losing someone you dearly loved, being diagnosed with a chronic disease like cancer or a heart condition, losing your family/home/job or feeling like you failed to meet expectations. All those things …
Dec 17 2021 – COVID-19 has upended our world, threatening our health, destroying economies and livelihoods, and deepening poverty and inequalities. It also created the single largest disruption to education systems that the world has ever seen.
Schools also play a critical role in ensuring the delivery of essential health services and nutritious meals, protection, and psycho-social support, which means that their closure has imperiled children’s overall wellbeing and development, not just their learning. At the same time, conflicts continue to rage and the disastrous effects of a changing climate threaten our very existence and are driving record levels of displac…
Experts say proper hygiene, especially during the first 1,000 days of a child’s life is critical. Credit: Joyce Chimbi/IPS
Nairobi, Kenya, Feb 15 2022 (IPS) – For two days in a row back in 2018, four-year-old Calvin Otieno suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting, and his mother responded by giving him a salt solution.
Pearl Otieno tells IPS that diarrhoea among children in Kibera, the largest urban informal settlement, is commonplace. A mixture of salt and warm water is often the go-to remedy.
Related IPS Articles
“He did not seem to get worse, but h…
The Ethiad Towers
STOCKHOLM, Apr 20 2022 (IPS) – I recently visited Abu Dhabi and my impressions became intermingled with worries about the war in Ukraine. I also happened to read Livy’s The Early History of Rome, written around the beginning of CE, coming across these lines:
The study of history is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of human experience plainly set out for all to see; and in that record you can find for yourself and your country both examples and warnings; fine things to take as models, base things, rotten through and through, to avoid.
This statement and the fact that Livy highlighted d…