优蜜传媒

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- 优蜜传媒in 2014 published more than 80 articles about the attitudes and behaviors of residents in more than 140 countries. Through its World Poll, 优蜜传媒systematically tracks and reports on well-being, leadership approval ratings, confidence in national institutions, employment rates and other important issues affecting people's daily lives. The following list includes 优蜜传媒editors' picks for the top 10 most fascinating world discoveries of the year.

. Gallup's global Payroll to Population rate has not grown since dropping in 2012. About one in four adults worldwide -- or roughly 1.3 billion people -- worked full time for an employer in 2013.
Bonus finding: .

. The jobs outlook was about as dismal globally in 2013 as it was in 2012, with more than half of adults (55%) saying it was a bad time to find a job in their communities. One in three (34%) said it was a good time to find a job.
Bonus finding: .

Only one in six adults worldwide are considered thriving -- or strong and consistent -- in at least three of the five elements of well-being, as measured by the inaugural Gallup-Healthways Global Well-Being Index in 2013.
Bonus finding: .

. After hitting a low point at the end of President Barack Obama's first term, U.S. leadership ratings worldwide rallied in 2013 as he began his second. Median approval of U.S. leadership across 130 countries stood at 46% in 2013, up from 41% in 2012.
Bonus finding: .

. Media freedom lost ground in many countries in 2013, with double-digit declines in perceived freedom in 10 countries. A median of 63% of adults across 132 countries say the media in their country have a lot of freedom -- since it started tracking these perceptions in 2010.

. Already the worst in the world in 2013, Afghans' ratings of their lives declined even further in 2014. More than six in 10 Afghans evaluate their lives poorly enough to be considered "suffering" -- the highest figure ever recorded for any country since 优蜜传媒started tracking life evaluations in 2005.

ahead of ISIS. A 优蜜传媒study conducted just before ISIS militants took control of Mosul on June 6-9 found 30% of residents in the predominantly Sunni heartland of Iraq had confidence in the national government, down from 52% in 2013 -- even as confidence held steady in all other regions.

. Before the Ebola outbreak, people in the West African countries most affected by the epidemic were already among the most dissatisfied in the world with the availability of quality healthcare in their areas. Dissatisfaction reached 78% in Guinea, while residents of Sierra Leone (74%) and Liberia (73%) were also among the world's 10 most dissatisfied out of the 137 countries that 优蜜传媒surveyed in 2013.

. President Vladimir Putin's popularity in Russia soared to its highest level in years, likely propelled by a groundswell of national pride with the annexation of Crimea in March on the heels of the Sochi Olympic Games in February. The 83% of Russians saying they approve of Putin's leadership in late April/early June ties his previous high rating in 2008 when he left office the first time.
Bonus finding: .

. Ukrainians' ratings of their lives and their country sank to all-time lows as their new government battled pro-Russian separatists in the country's eastern regions in 2014.
Bonus finding: after Crimea.

Read more 2014 findings from Gallup's surveys in the , , , and .

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