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Dissatisfied with Life, but Having a Good Day: Time-Use and Well-Being of the Unemployed

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  • Andreas Knabe
  • Steffen Rätzel
  • Ronnie Schöb
  • Joachim Weimann

Abstract

We apply the Day Reconstruction Method to compare unemployed and employed people with respect to their subjective assessment of emotional affects, differences in the composition and duration of activities during the course of a day, and their self-reported life satisfaction. Employed persons are more satisfied with their life than the unemployed and report more positive feelings when engaged in similar activities. Weighting these activities with their duration shows, however, that average experienced utility does not differ between the two groups. Although the unemployed feel sadder when engaged in similar activities, they can compensate this by using the time the employed are at work in more enjoyable ways. Our finding that unemployment affects life satisfaction and experienced utility differently may be explained by the fact that people do not adjust their aspirations when becoming unemployed but face hedonic adaptation to changing life circumstances, triggered by the opportunity to use the time in a way that yields higher levels of satisfaction than working.

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File URL: http://www.cesifo-group.de/portal/page/portal/DocBase_Content/WP/WP-CESifo_Working_Papers/wp-cesifo-2009/wp-cesifo-2009-04/cesifo1_wp2604.pdf
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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by CESifo Group Munich in its series CESifo Working Paper Series with number 2604.

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Date of creation: 2009
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Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_2604

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Keywords: unemployment; happiness; life satisfaction; Day Reconstruction Method; experienced utility;

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References

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Citations

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Cited by:
  1. Andreas Knabe, 2011. "Dutt, A. K. and Radcliff, B.: Happiness, Economics and Politics: Towards a Multi-Disciplinary Approach," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 102(2), pages 189-192, March.
  2. Martin Binder & Alex Coad, 2011. ""I'm afraid I have bad news for you . . ." Estimating the impact of different health impairments on subjective well-being," Papers on Economics and Evolution 2011-15, Max Planck Institute of Economics, Evolutionary Economics Group.
  3. Paul Dolan & Georgios Kavetsos, 2012. "Happy Talk: Mode of Administration Effects on Subjective Well-Being," CEP Discussion Papers dp1159, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
  4. Almudena Sevilla & Jose Gimenez-Nadal & Jonathan Gershuny, 2012. "Leisure Inequality in the United States: 1965–2003," Demography, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 939-964, August.
  5. Clemens Hetschko & Andreas Knabe & Ronnie Schöb, 2011. "Changing Identity: Retiring from Unemployment," CESifo Working Paper Series 3540, CESifo Group Munich.
  6. Comerford, David A., 2011. "Attenuating focalism in affective forecasts of the commuting experience: Implications for economic decisions and policy making," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 691-699.
  7. Gielen, Anne C. & van Ours, Jan C., 2012. "Unhappiness and Job Finding," IZA Discussion Papers 6320, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  8. Andreas Knabe & Ronnie Schöb & Joachim Weimann, 2012. "Partnership, Gender Roles and the Well-Being Cost of Unemployment," FEMM Working Papers 120019, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Faculty of Economics and Management.
  9. Brendan Walsh, 2011. "Well-being and Economic Conditions in Ireland," Working Papers 201127, School Of Economics, University College Dublin.
  10. Krause, Annabelle, 2011. "Work to Live or Live to Work? Unemployment, Happiness, and Culture," IZA Discussion Papers 6101, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  11. Timothy J. Bartik, 2013. "Social Costs of Jobs Lost Due to Environmental Regulations," Upjohn Working Papers and Journal Articles 13-193, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
  12. repec:cep:cepsps:23 is not listed on IDEAS
  13. Stutzer, Alois & Frey, Bruno S., 2012. "Recent Developments in the Economics of Happiness: A Selective Overview," IZA Discussion Papers 7078, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
  14. Gielen, A. C. & Ours, J.C. van, 2012. "Unhappiness and Job Finding," Discussion Paper 2012-011, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
  15. Ronnie Schöb, 2012. "Unemployment and Identity," CESifo Working Paper Series 3991, CESifo Group Munich.
  16. Green, Francis, 2011. "Unpacking the misery multiplier: How employability modifies the impacts of unemployment and job insecurity on life satisfaction and mental health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 265-276, March.
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