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Money and Mental Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study of Medium-Sized Lottery Wins

Author

Listed:
  • Gardner, Jonathan

    (Watson Wyatt LLP)

  • Oswald, Andrew J.

    (University of Warwick)

Abstract

One of the famous questions in social science is whether money makes people happy. We offer new evidence by using longitudinal data on a random sample of Britons who receive medium-sized lottery wins of between £1000 and £120,000 (that is, up to approximately U.S. $200,000). When compared to two control groups – one with no wins and the other with small wins – these individuals go on eventually to exhibit significantly better psychological health. Two years after a lottery win, the average measured improvement in mental wellbeing is 1.4 GHQ points.

Suggested Citation

  • Gardner, Jonathan & Oswald, Andrew J., 2006. "Money and Mental Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study of Medium-Sized Lottery Wins," IZA Discussion Papers 2233, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2233
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    GHQ; psychological health; happiness; income;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

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    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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