Here is my take: It is not just about religion. Having been born in a third world country but now in the US, I'm struck, by looking at those less fortunate, how much more (socially) devastating being poor here is.

People often talk about how the poor in the US still live better than the poor in the third world, but the poor in third world countries are not excluded from renting relatively decent places because of bad credit, they don't give away their class by their bad teeth, they (mostly) do not have to sleep under bridges (unless they have serious mental issues), their mobility is not restricted by the need to have a car (which all the attendant on-going costs), and so on.

I could be dirt poor in a third world country and people will not avoid me like I am some sort of defective, repugnant, morally challenged person; I am still normal.

I can verify this, having been poor in a very affluent part of the world, and having spent a huge amount of time in very inaffluent parts of the world.

Thanks for the insightful comment.

> I could be dirt poor in a third world country and people will not avoid me like I am some sort of defective, repugnant, morally challenged person; I am still normal.

Very good point. I have been living in a lower-middle class neighborhood in one of the world's poorest countries for around 3 years now, but I'm originally from the US. There are fewer inherent indications of wealth vs. poverty here, whereas in the US you can often tell at a single glance. Even if you literally strip away social indicators like clothing, I think I could gauge someone's economic status from their naked body (sadly), and if not that, then definitely from their dialect.

Poorer countries are on average more religious and more religious countries have lower suicide rates http://www.gallup.com/poll/108625/more-religious-countries-l...

More religious countries may have lower incidents of suicide but they don't seem to be enjoying the life they do have as much as the less religious countries. None of the top 10 countries according to the World Happiness Report[1] are religious. On the other hand, of the top 10 religious countries, according to your link, the highest ranked for happiness is Thailand at 34. This shouldn't be terribly surprising since it is a deadly sin to commit suicide in most of the Abrahamic religions and the more devout you are the more likely you are to adhere to this particular tenet.

[1] http://worldhappiness.report/ed/2015/

Or all the unhappy people in the happiest countries killed themselves.

80% of the US is affiliated with a religion.

Self identification, affiliation, and membership are not synonyms.