IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cba/wpaper/wp1112.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Understanding Life Satisfaction and the Education Puzzle in Australia: A profile from HILDA Wave 9

Author

Listed:
  • Cathy Gong

    (NATSEM, University of Canberra)

  • Rebecca Cassells

    (NATSEM, University of Canberra)

  • Marcia Keegan

    (NATSEM, University of Canberra)

Abstract

Although better income, wealth and health outcomes have been predicted by human capital theory for better educated people, increasingly international and Australian empirical evidence has found a negative relationship between higher education and subjective wellbeing instead, particularly for developed nations. This study uses Wave 9 of the HILDA survey data and an ordered logit model to estimate the partial effect of educational achievement on different life satisfactions in Australia and how this differs by age group. We find that the younger age group have relatively higher education but lower satisfaction level on average than the older age group. The relationship between education and life satisfaction level differs by age group. Either controlling other variables or not, we found that for the older age group, those with graduate diploma/graduate certificates, certificates or Year 11 or below are more satisfied with their lives on average when compared to those with university degrees, or Year 12 only. However, this is not the case anymore for the younger age group, where life satisfaction, especially with respect to finances, health and safety, increases with education.

Suggested Citation

  • Cathy Gong & Rebecca Cassells & Marcia Keegan, 2011. "Understanding Life Satisfaction and the Education Puzzle in Australia: A profile from HILDA Wave 9," NATSEM Working Paper Series 11/12, University of Canberra, National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling.
    • Handle: RePEc:cba:wpaper:wp1112
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://melbourneinstitute.com/downloads/conferences/HILDA%202011/HILDA11_final%20papers/Gong,%20Cathy_6B_final%20paper%20(draft).pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John J. Beggs & Bruce J. Chapman, 1988. "Immigrant Wage Adjustment in Australia: Cross Section and Time‐Series Estimates," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 64(3), pages 161-167, September.
    2. Alison L. Booth & Jan C. Van Ours, 2009. "Hours of Work and Gender Identity: Does Part‐time Work Make the Family Happier?," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 76(301), pages 176-196, February.
    3. Beggs, John J & Chapman, Bruce J, 1988. "Immigrant Wage Adjustment in Australia: Cross Section and Time-Series Estimates," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 64(186), pages 161-167, September.
    4. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Investment in Human Capital: Effects on Earnings," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 29-58, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Investment in Human Capital: Rates of Return," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 59-160, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Gary S. Becker, 1994. "Age, Earnings, Wealth, and Human Capital," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis with Special Reference to Education, Third Edition, pages 228-244, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Ada Ferrer-i-Carbonell & Paul Frijters, 2004. "How Important is Methodology for the estimates of the determinants of Happiness?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(497), pages 641-659, July.
    8. Mark Wooden & Nicole Watson, 2007. "The HILDA Survey and its Contribution to Economic and Social Research (So Far)," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 83(261), pages 208-231, June.
    9. Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1980. "Relative Deprivation and the Gini Coefficient: Reply," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 95(3), pages 575-576.
    10. Gary S. Becker, 1975. "Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education, Second Edition," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck75-1, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jayanty Kuppusamy & Ajitha Angusamy & R.N. Anantharaman & Al-Mansor b Abu Said, 2023. "Life Satisfaction Among Working Women in a Southeast Asian Country," Review of Applied Socio-Economic Research, Pro Global Science Association, vol. 25(1), pages 125-137, June.
    2. Christopher Ambrey & Christopher Fleming & Matthew Manning, 2014. "Perception or Reality, What Matters Most When it Comes to Crime in Your Neighbourhood?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 877-896, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Stuth, Stefan & Schorlemmer, Julia & Hennig, Marina & Allmendinger, Jutta, 2014. "Freiwilliges Engagement: Ein Patentrezept für Wiedereinsteigerinnen?," Discussion Papers, Presidential Department P 2014-007, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    2. Gustavo Yamada, 2007. "Retornos a la educación superior en el mercado laboral: ¿vale la pena el esfuerzo?," Diagnóstico y propuesta, Consorcio de Investigación Económica y Social.
    3. Dieckhoff, Martina & Steiber, Nadia, 2009. "In search of gender differences in access to continuing training: Is there a gender training gap and if yes, why?," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Skill Formation and Labor Markets SP I 2009-504, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    4. María Clemencia Ardila Franco, Ana Elsa Vargas Espinosa, 2012. "Importancia del desarrollo de los individuos y su incidencia en el comportamiento organizacional," Revista CIFE, Universidad Santo Tomás, June.
    5. Ronald Alejandro Macuacé Otero & Andrés Mauricio Gómez Sánchez, 2014. "Migración hacia los espacios rururbanos en Popayán (Colombia) para la primera década del siglo XXI," Revista de Economía del Caribe 14769, Universidad del Norte.
    6. C. Michael Aho & Thomas O. Bayard, 1984. "Costs and Benefits of Trade Adjustment Assistance," NBER Chapters, in: The Structure and Evolution of Recent US Trade Policy, pages 153-194, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Ana María Ibá-ez, 2014. "Growth in forced displacement: cross-country, sub-national and household evidence on potential determinants," Chapters, in: Robert E.B. Lucas (ed.), International Handbook on Migration and Economic Development, chapter 13, pages 350-387, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Brenner, Jan, 2007. "Effects of Job Entry Restrictions on Economic Integration - Evidence for Recent Ethnic German Immigrants," Ruhr Economic Papers 25, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    9. Brown, Byron W. & Woodbury, Stephen A., 1998. "Seniority, external labor markets, and faculty pay," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 771-798.
    10. Elisa Ughetto, 2016. "Growth of born globals: the role of the entrepreneur’s personal factors and venture capital," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 839-857, September.
    11. Huffman, Wallace E & Just, Richard E, 2004. "Implications of Agency Theory for Optimal Land Tenure Contracts," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 52(3), pages 617-642, April.
    12. S. C. Noah Uhrig & Nicole Watson, 2020. "The Impact of Measurement Error on Wage Decompositions: Evidence From the British Household Panel Survey and the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 49(1), pages 43-78, February.
    13. Almas Heshmati & Biwei Su, 2013. "Development and Sources of Labor Productivity in Chinese Provinces," China Economic Policy Review (CEPR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 2(02), pages 1-30.
    14. Laurie Brown & Binod Nepal & Sarah Yu, 2012. "Supported accommodation options for people with disability: Investigating responses to the urban village concept," NATSEM Working Paper Series 12/16, University of Canberra, National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling.
    15. Susan Dynarski, 2008. "Building the Stock of College-Educated Labor," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(3), pages 576-610.
    16. Zimmerman, Dennis & Miles, Barbara, 1994. "Substituting Direct Government Lending for Guaranteed Student Loans: How Budget Rules Distorted Economic Decisionmaking," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 47(4), pages 773-787, December.
    17. María Gil Izquierdo & Laura de Pablos Escobar & María Martínez Torres, 2010. "Los determinantes socioeconómicos de la demanda de Educación Superior en España y la movilidad educativa intergeneracional," Hacienda Pública Española / Review of Public Economics, IEF, vol. 193(2), pages 75-108, June.
    18. Miguel Székely & Pamela Mendoza, 2017. "Patterns, Trends and Policy Implications of Private Spending on Skills Development in Mexico and the United States," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 98116, Inter-American Development Bank.
    19. Muhammad Kamran, 2015. "Investigating the Framework for Examining the Factors Influencing Vocational Education and Training (VET) as the Crucial Factor of Self-Employment and Entrepreneurship Development (Analiza ram badania," Research Reports, University of Warsaw, Faculty of Management, vol. 2(19), pages 84-94.
    20. Erikson, Truls & Knockaert, Mirjam & Foo, Maw Der, 2015. "Enterprising scientists: The shaping role of norms, experience and scientific productivity," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 211-221.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cba:wpaper:wp1112. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Trueman (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/natseau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.