Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP7311
Authors: Betsey Stevenson; Justin Wolfers
Abstract: By many objective measures the lives of women in the United States have improved over the past 35 years, yet we show that measures of subjective well-being indicate that women?s happiness has declined both absolutely and relative to men. The paradox of women?s declining relative well-being is found across various datasets, measures of subjective well-being, and is pervasive across demographic groups and industrialized countries. Relative declines in female happiness have eroded a gender gap in happiness in which women in the 1970s typically reported higher subjective well-being than did men. These declines have continued and a new gender gap is emerging?one with higher subjective well-being for men.
Keywords: gender; happiness; job satisfaction; life satisfaction; subjective wellbeing; womens movement
JEL Codes: D6; I32; J1; J7; K1
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Objective measures of women's lives (J16) | Women's subjective wellbeing (I31) |
| Increased educational attainment (I24) | Women's subjective wellbeing (I31) |
| Increased labor force participation (J49) | Women's subjective wellbeing (I31) |
| Demographic variables (age, race, marital status) (J21) | Women's subjective wellbeing (I31) |
| Socioeconomic factors (income, employment status) (P36) | Women's subjective wellbeing (I31) |
| Women's subjective wellbeing (I31) | Gender happiness gap (J16) |
| Men's happiness (I31) | Gender happiness gap (J16) |