<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper">What's happening? </h2>

In YemenThe poorest country in the Gulf region is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. , at least four out of every five people live in povertyThe state of being very poor. . The UK, meanwhile, is one of the top 25 richest countries.

But if you went around BirminghamA major city in England. It has a population of more than one million. and the Yemeni capital of Sana'a and asked people how happy they were, you would get a surprising result.

Britain is the second-most miserableSad. country in the world, according to a new surveyWhen you ask a group of people questions about what they think about a particular topic. , unhappier than Yemen, which placed ninth.

Perhaps this is not so surprising. Three quarters of Britons think the country is becoming a worse place to live. Many people make no more money than they did 15 years ago.

If you ask people in the UK and France if things are getting better, less than five in every hundred people will say yes.

But in China, where nearly 800 million people have been lifted out of poverty in the last 40 years, 41% agree things are improving.

Visitors to the UK often remark at how British people seem to relishEnjoy greatly. Or a type of sauce! their own misery. Perhaps being miserable is what makes Britons' happy.

But others say it is not good to be miserable all the time. They say it stops you from getting anything done.

For example, some hope that by telling people it is almost too late to stop climate breakdown, it might spur them into action. Instead, research shows it just makes them less likely to do anything.

A leading philosopherA thinker who comes up with ideas about big questions in life. has even come up with a complexDifficult or complicated. formulaA formula is a group of mathematical symbols and numbers that show how to work something out. that shows that believing everything will go wrong is not useful.

Yes! You do not have to say things are going well when they are in fact going badly. But you will not solve any problem by being miserable. You need hope in order to make things better.

No! No amount of optimismHaving a hopeful and positive outlook. will solve big problems with the economyThe way that money flows through a country, which affects wages and the cost of living. and the climateThe weather over a long period of time. . We need to be miserable about these things to understand them.

Yemen - The poorest country in the Gulf region is in the midst of a humanitarian crisis.

<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper">Find out more </h2>

Poverty - The state of being very poor.

Birmingham - A major city in England. It has a population of more than one million.

Miserable - Sad.

Survey - When you ask a group of people questions about what they think about a particular topic.

Relish - Enjoy greatly. Or a type of sauce!

Philosopher - A thinker who comes up with ideas about big questions in life.

Complex - Difficult or complicated.

Formula - A formula is a group of mathematical symbols and numbers that show how to work something out.

Pessimism - Always expecting the worst.

Optimism - Having a hopeful and positive outlook.

Economy - The way that money flows through a country, which affects wages and the cost of living.

Climate - The weather over a long period of time.