What makes the Dutch so Happy?

It is freezing cold in the Netherlands, andmost newspapers print photos on their front pages of oridnary people wrapped up in hats and scarves. Others opts for a full page photo of two people wearing skates on a frozen lake and asks why ice makes the Dutch so happy? The answer is - apparently - it is one of the great levellers of society.

Since 'time began' rich and poor have skated side-by-side through the Dutch landscape, it seems. “It is free space without rules, true freedom,” says Paul Snabel, head of the Netherlands Institute for Social Research.