My presentation will be underpinned by insights from the literature on diversity between European welfare regimes (see Esping-Andersen, 1989) and will focus on the relationship between participation in adult learning and education and the experience of happiness. It will start by discussing definitions of happiness (e.g. Layard, 2020), unpack the importance of feeling happy and dig deeper in the hypothetical claim that participation in adult learning and education can make adults happier. The presentation's theoretical framework is underpinned by insights on variations in welfare regimes (e.g. differences between Nordic regimes like Sweden versus Southern regimes like Spain, Anglo-Saxon regimes like England, often referring to macro level system characteristics in relation to the organisation of their labour market, social security system, economy, education systems, ...), and the understanding of core determinants of participation in adult learning and education (see Boeren, 2016). Drawing on these, it will answer the research question: To what extent do levels of happiness differ between adult learners and non adult learners controlling for personal background characteristics and the distinct European member states in which they live?

My presentation will draw on statistical data from the European Social Survey and present the results of an analysis on the happiness perceptions of just under 20,000 adults between the ages of 25 and 64. Analyses will be shown for the relation between participation in adult learning and education and happiness as well as unpack differences between countries. At the time of the survey, these adults lived in 16 European countries (15 European Union countries and the United Kingdom). Descriptive and multivariate analyses will be presented. The research follows a quantitative approach.

The presentation of analyses will reveal that while adults who engage with adult learning and education on average tend to be happier than those who don't, this result weakens when controlling for the country the adults live in. The results will confirm that highest levels of happiness are found in Finland - an example of a Nordic welfare regime - but that these adults' happiness is in fact not strongly related to whether or not they participate in adult education. Adults in Eastern European countries score lowest on happiness and in these countries, bigger differences were found between adult learners and non-learners. The results of this presentation will be used to open a debate on the role of welfare regimes in nurturing happiness and how far well-structured adult learning provisions might be an important part of such macro-level systems.

Boeren, E. (2016). Lifelong learning participation in a changing policy context: an interdisciplinary theory. Baskingstoke: Palgrave-Macmillan. Esping‐Andersen, G. (1989) The three worlds of welfare capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press. Layard, R. (2020) Can We Be Happier?: Evidence and Ethics. London: Penguin.