Do Public Policies Influence the Happiness of European Citizens?

Abstract

Subjective happiness has become a social indicator determining citizens' social and personal well-being. Therefore, this study aims to analyse the socioeconomic variables that may affect it and discuss their role in the public policy agenda. This indicator is usually used, among other issues, to determine the degree of citizen satisfaction with public policies, which in this work has been based on knowledge of subjective happiness from the processing of data through descriptive and inferential analyses of a sample of the European population obtained from the European Social Survey. These analyses conclude that factors such as family income, health, social and family relationships, and the ability to plan one's future and expectations of future development impact subjective happiness. All these factors are susceptible to being determined by public policies, and their promotion can serve as an incentive to strengthen the legitimacy of public institutions and shape a balanced and happy democratic society.