New Statesman - <![CDATA[Richard Layard]]> http://www.newstatesman.com/writers/richard_layard en <![CDATA[NS Essay - The secrets of happiness]]> http://www.newstatesman.com/200303030016 http://www.newstatesman.com/200303030016 Mon, 03 Mar 2003 12:00:00 GMT Richard Layard Despite growing affluence, the average Briton is more miserable than ever. Why? Because when people get extra income, it makes their neighbours sad

There is a paradox at the heart of our civilisation. Individuals want more income. Yet as society has got richer, people have not become happier. Over the past 50 years we have got better homes, more clothes, longer holidays and, above all, better health. Yet surveys show clearly that happiness has not increased in the US, Japan, Continental Europe or Britain.

By happiness I mean feeling good - enjoying life [...]

]]> <![CDATA[Worth more than two tins of beans]]> http://www.newstatesman.com/199911220019 http://www.newstatesman.com/199911220019 Mon, 22 Nov 1999 12:00:00 GMT Richard Layard British literacy levels are low, but innumeracy is what really holds us back. ByRichard Layard

The top half of German earners get little more than the top half of Britons. But the bottom half get 50 per cent more than their equivalents in this country. The reason is simple: they are more skilled.

As a nation we have scandalously neglected the education of the less academic half of our population, and we have neglected their numeracy as well as their literacy. Most people know that [...]

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