Juliet Dunlop: Content? You must be havin" a giraffe GDP, according to Bobby Kennedy, measured "everything except that which makes life worthwhile." As the US senator put it in 1968, it does not include "the health of our children, the quality of their education or the joy of their play. It measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. In short, Gross Domestic Product measures everything except our happiness. As an indicator it may show a country's economic output, but it does little more than that. What it misses is, perhaps, more important than what it includes. And while studies which attempt to measure happiness and life satisfaction may not be new, they are useful - and fascinating - all the same. Take the latest snapshot of life in Britain from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It seems that despite job cuts, pay cuts, welfare cuts and any other kind of cut you care to mention, we are still willing to look on the bright side of life. The economy may be depressed but we are not; house prices have fallen, but we are not crest-fallen. We may be sinking in a sea of debt but hope has remained afloat. It would appear that we have defied the odds - how satisfied we are now, is pretty much the same as it was a decade ago. This week's ONS report, which follows the launch of the Prime Minister's Measuring National Well-being programme two years ago, (think GWB not GDP) also gives us a glimpse into what matters to us most. Money is up there but we also value our health, our families, our friends and communities. And it may, or may not, come as a surprise but being employed has the biggest impact on our wellbeing - not what we earn. Life is also better if you are young or old. Happiness is U-shaped and middle-age is at the bottom of the bend - 50-somethings are generally less satisfied with their lot. Geography also matters. And no, this is not a misprint, Scotland really is the happiest place in the UK. We may be rain-lashed, wind-swept and stunted but half of the ten happiest places in Britain are north of the Border - the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland top the list. Clearly, good weather is not that important. So, apart from the vague notion that island life might be nice - so long as you can keep your job and take the family - what does the ONS survey really tell us about ourselves? It would certainly seem to indicate that pots of money and material possessions are not all that important. We are not greedy - our pleasures are relatively simple: a clean, safe and pleasant environment in which to live, good health and good friends. It also tells us that despite rising youth employment, many young people remain hopeful that life will eventually give them a break, while the elderly are less fearful than perhaps we imagined. Now that thousands of households up and down the country have shared their hopes and fears, ministers say they will look at the data and how it can inform policy. At least that is the idea. But forming policies based on a happiness index - however much it could potentially transform lives - will be far from straightforward in the current climate. Experts say small changes to the tax and benefit system would make a big difference to our lives but again, how likely is that to happen when daily we learn of aggressive tax avoidance schemes and concerns over welfare budgets? In the end, happiness will be of our own making. We could do worse than follow the example of Armstrong Baillie, the man who goes around Scotland doing good deeds dressed as a giraffe. The idea came to him in the queue at the jobcentre one day when he noticed how miserable everyone looked. Armed with a kazoo and a drum, the Good Giraffe has been handing out cups of tea and making people smile ever since. He's sticking his (very long) neck out to lift our mood and we're the better for it. Nice costume, nice idea.