What is human happiness & how can we promote it? These questions are central to human existence & Happiness Explained draws on scientific research from economics, psychology, & philosophy, as well as a range of other disciplines, to outline a new paradigm in which human flourishing plays a central role in the assessment of national & global progress. It shows why the traditional national income approach is limited as a measure of human wellbeing & demonstrates how the contributors to happiness, wellbeing, & quality of life can be measured & understood across the human life course. Discussing wide-ranging aspects, from parenting, decent employment, friendship, education, & health in old age, through to money, autonomy, & fairness, as well as personal strategies & governmental polices used in the pursuit of happiness, it offers a science-based understanding of human flourishing. Written by an economist involved in helping governmental organisations move `beyond GDP`, Happiness Explained shows how a wide range of factors that contribute to better & happier lives & how, together, they provide a new blueprint for the assessment of progress in terms of personal wellbeing.