How Happy is Britain？ What makes you happy？ That's...

How Happy is Britain？ What makes you happy？ That's a question British Prime Minister David Cameron is asking the nation in a survey this year, as part of a drive to improve Britons' lives beyond pure 1 gain. As the global recession continues, Mr Cameron says he is seeking a better measure of progress than GDP alone. He claims economic studies often focus too much on standard of life rather than 2 of life. The problem is that assessing happiness is a slippery subject. It is easier to measure something 3 like a person's income than a 4 , less tangible factor like well-being. Critics say the 2m pounds (20m yuan) scheme will not produce any meaningful results. Others suggest it is unwise to carry out a survey into the nation's happiness just as the government 5 the biggest public spending cuts in decades. Mr Cameron himself admits that it is easy to brand his scheme “woolly” and “ 6 ”, but it is not without precedent. Canada has an Index of Well-being which looks at how things like money and education affect health and the sense of 7 . And the Kingdom of Bhutan has used its index of Gross National Happiness (GNH) since the early 1970s as a tool to help 8 . So what kind of answers is he likely to get？ While the full survey begins later this year, respondents to an initial consultation have already listed their top 9 . Job security, good health and relationships with family members are what matter most to people in the UK, according to the 10 . In fact, having a job was listed as more important than being paid a high salary. So perhaps there is truth in the old adage that “money can't buy happiness”. An idea David Cameron may find solace in as he tries to find a way out of the recession.