Working Paper: NBER ID: w24087
Authors: David G. Blanchflower; Andrew Oswald
Abstract: In Happiness for All?, Carol Graham raises disquieting ideas about today’s United States. The challenge she puts forward is an important one. Here we review the intellectual case and offer additional evidence. We conclude broadly on the author’s side. Strikingly, Americans appear to be in greater pain than citizens of other countries, and most sub-groups of citizens have downwardly trended happiness levels. There is, however, one bright side to an otherwise dark story. The happiness of black Americans has risen strongly since the 1970s. It is now almost equal to that of white Americans.
Keywords: happiness; pain; inequality; mental well-being; policy implications
JEL Codes: I3; I31
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| economic conditions (E66) | reported pain levels (Y10) |
| income inequality (D31) | mental well-being inequality (I14) |
| lower levels of education (I24) | decreased happiness (I31) |
| lower levels of education (I24) | increased feelings of financial dissatisfaction (G59) |
| white Americans (J15) | less optimistic than black Americans (J15) |
| black Americans' happiness (I31) | white Americans' happiness (I31) |