	Veenhoven was born in The Hague in the Netherlands in 1942. He graduated in 1962 from the Nederlands Lyceum in The Hague and received a master's degree in sociology (specializing in public management) from Erasmus University in Rotterdam (1969). Subsequently, he completed a PhD in the Social Sciences also at Erasmus, with a dissertation on "The Condition of Happiness". He was also registered as a social-sexologist (1994–2000). 