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Happiness over the life cycle: exploring age-specific preferences

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Author Info
Lelkes, Orsolya

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Abstract

Existing evidence suggests a U-shaped relationship between age and life satisfaction, when controlling for income and education and other personal characteristics. On the other hand, there is no clear pattern between old age and happiness without the use of controls. Thus, it is not ageing as such, which results declining happiness, but rather the circumstances which are associated with ageing. Which of these circumstances could be averted? Are the preferences of the elderly are similar to others? The paper aims to explore these issues, using the European Social Survey. The results imply that the varying level of life satisfaction during the life cycle may be explained partly by changing preferences (by the decreasing importance of work, the increasing importance of religion, and the declining disutility of being single), and partly by changing circumstances. While changing preferences seem to increase well-being, changing circumstances seem to decrease it. Exceptions are the few positive changes in circumstances, which are likely to contribute to higher well-being, include increasing religiosity and relatively low pensioners’ poverty across the 21 European countries examined here. Old days thus are happy above all due to changing priorities in life.

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Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number 7302.

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Date of creation: 20 Feb 2008
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Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:7302

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Related research
Keywords: Life Satisfaction Age Preferences

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped
I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - General Welfare
Z10 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - General

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  1. Lelkes, Orsolya, 2006. "Knowing what is good for you: Empirical analysis of personal preferences and the "objective good"," The Journal of Socio-Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 285-307, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. David G. Blanchflower & Andrew J. Oswald, 2007. "Is Well-Being U-Shaped over the Life Cycle?," IZA Discussion Papers 3075, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  3. Oswald, Andrew, 1997. "Happiness and Economic Performance," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 478, University of Warwick, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Daniel Kahneman & Alan B. Krueger, 2006. "Developments in the Measurement of Subjective Well-Being," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Blanchflower, David G. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2004. "Well-being over time in Britain and the USA," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(7-8), pages 1359-1386, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Peiro, Amado, 2006. "Happiness, satisfaction and socio-economic conditions: Some international evidence," The Journal of Socio-Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 348-365, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Andrew E. Clark, 2003. "Unemployment as a Social Norm: Psychological Evidence from Panel Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 21(2), pages 289-322, April. [Downloadable!]
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  8. Lelkes, Orsolya, 2006. "Tasting freedom: Happiness, religion and economic transition," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 173-194, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Andrew Clark & Ed Diener & Yannis Georgellis & Richard E. Lucas, 2003. "Lags and Leads in Life Satisfaction: A Test of the Baseline Hypothesis," DELTA Working Papers 2003-14, DELTA (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
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  10. Andrew E. Clark, 2006. "Born to be mild? Cohort effects don't explain why well-being is U-shaped in age," PSE Working Papers 2006-35, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  11. Andrew E. Clark & Paul Frijters & Michael Shields, 2007. "Relative Income, Happiness and Utility: An Explanation for the Easterlin Paradox and Other Puzzles," IZA Discussion Papers 2840, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  12. Andrew Clark & Fabrice Etilé & Fabien Postel-Vinay & Claudia Senik & Karine Van der Straeten, 2005. "Heterogeneity in Reported Well-Being: Evidence from Twelve European Countries," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 115(502), pages C118-C132, 03. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Andrew E. Clark & Andrew J. Oswald, 2006. "The curved relationship between subjective well-being and age," PSE Working Papers 2006-29, PSE (Ecole normale supérieure). [Downloadable!]
  14. Stutzer, Alois & Frey, Bruno S., 2006. "Does marriage make people happy, or do happy people get married?," The Journal of Socio-Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 326-347, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Rafael Di Tella & Robert MacCulloch, 2005. "Partisan Social Happiness," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 72(2), pages 367-393, 04. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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