During the Covid-19 pandemic, the world experienced a persistent increase in acts of kindness that continued after the pandemic, with these generous acts remaining more than 10% above pre-pandemic levels. According to the 2024 World Happiness Report, there was a higher frequency of donating and volunteering across different generations and global regions in comparison to the period from 2017–19, although there was a decline from 2023. On average, there was an 18% increase in helping strangers compared to the pre-pandemic era. According to Prof Lara Aknin, a Canadian professor of social psychology and one of the report’s editors, the sharp increase in the number of people who assisted strangers in 2020 has continued, possibly because people recognize that their neighbors and friends need help, which lowered their inhibitions about offering assistance. Aknin suggested that the trend of benevolence might be here to stay as people have become more aware of the emotional rewards of helping others. The World Happiness Report, organized by the University of Oxford’s Wellbeing Research Centre, Gallup, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, noted that the increase in benevolent acts was remarkable four years after the onset of Covid. This year’s focus included people’s tendency to underestimate the kindness of others, with a study spanning 40 countries finding that dropped wallets were returned more often than expected, especially if they contained money. The report’s happiness rankings were led by Nordic countries, with Finland topping the list for the eighth consecutive year. Researchers have confirmed that people are happier in places where they perceive others as caring and that acts of kindness are strongly linked to positive well-being and life satisfaction. However, dining alone has become more common, and the US has dropped to its lowest happiness ranking at 24th place, following closely after the UK in 23rd place. The report highlights that sharing meals with others is strongly linked to positive well-being and emphasizes the need for collective action to combat current trends of social isolation and political polarization.

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2025/mar/20/covid-benevolence-bump-endures-kindness-10-higher-before-2020