A new report by the National Academy of Sciences is urging the federal government to measure citizens' level of happiness on matters of daily affairs, according to a report by the Associated Press.

The experts who wrote the report said that there is more to life than hard cash and the government should look into the sentiments of the citizenry. The experts who prepared the report include a panel of economists, psychologist and experts from other disciplines. They have recommended going beyond the traditional metrics of consumer satisfaction such as income, consumer spending, health, and housing. The experts urge the government to include happiness in its statistics and surveys.

"You want to know how people are doing?" Arthur Stone, panel chairman and a professor of psychology at New York's Stony Brook University, told the Associated Press. "One of things you may want to do is ask them."

The panel of experts wants to include survey and statistical questions that would measure daily happiness and general well-being. Some of the questions suggested would ask respondents how often they smiled, how many times they were stressed, how many times they laughed or they were in pain. Some of the suggested questions are simple like "Yesterday, did you spend time with friends or family?" and can be answered by a "yes or no." Others are far more complex like "Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?" that is followed by a 1-10 rating.

According to Carol Graham, a panel member and an economist from the Brookings Institution, the questions they are urging the government to ask the public can be scientifically validated. Members of the panel believe that collecting happiness data would result in government shaping better policies that would address basic benefits. Including happiness metrics could lead to solutions on problems that involve retirement age and pension, unemployment and working conditions, and care for the chronically and terminally ill patients.