Happy List

The Happy List is a list of 100 people in the United Kingdom "who give back, volunteer, and who make Britain a better balanced, happier country." In 2017, the list was reduced and has featured 50 people since then.[1] It was published annually in April by the Independent on Sunday, a British national Sunday newspaper, between 2008 until 2022. No further lists have been published since 2022.[2]

The BBC welcomed the first Happy List as "an antidote" to the Sunday Times Rich List, a longer-standing institution, which is published on the same day.[3] Following widespread comment in the UK and abroad, the Independent announced a week later that it would make the Happy List an annual fixture.[4] The Wall Street Journal floated the idea of a Happy List for the United States,[5] but this was not taken up.[4]

The newspaper accepts that the list is an artificial exercise, but seeks to celebrate people representing much-needed values, in the hope that they will be seen as role models.[6]

  1. ^ Kotecha, Nisha (June 26, 2017). "The Independent unveils its Happy List 2017: The definitive list of people who make life better for others". Good News Shared. Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  2. ^ The Indepedant (30 August 2022). "Happy List 2022". Independent.co.uk.
  3. ^ UK's super-rich 'getting richer', BBC News, 27 April 2008
  4. ^ a b The IoS happy list will now be an annual fixture, IoS, 4 May 2008
  5. ^ Should Rich Lists Be Replaced by Happy Lists?, "The Wealth Report", WSJ, 28 April 2008
  6. ^ "The IoS Happy List 2009 - the 100". The Independent. April 19, 2009. Archived from the original on 2022-05-09.