Money, Happiness, & the Disabled
A survey of 478 Americans over nine years, before and after they became disabled, found that wealth generally allowed “substantially better well-being, and less sadness and loneliness.”
The advantage eased after a few years of disability.
“Happiness and well-being may not depend on a person’s financial state in times of health, but when that health fails, as it will eventually for most of us, money matters,” said lead researcher Peter Ubel.
Participants were classified as disabled if they became unable to carry out routine tasks — such as walking, getting out of bed, eating and dressing — without help.
Participants whose financial assets were above the median before they were disabled reported, afterward, a smaller drop in well being based on various questions they answered.
Other research has tied psychological well-being to a person’s response to medical treatments. Half of personal bankruptcies are linked to health care costs.
A 2003 study of 16,266 people at 886 companies in the UK found rank had a bigger effect on happiness than pay level.
According to Ed Diener and Martin Seligman, U.S. wealth has tripled over the past 50 years but well-being has not increased.
Scientists at Princeton University had 909 women fill out surveys of their previous days’ happiness. Income and education were found to have less impact on the enjoyment of daily activities than temperament and sleep.
“Measures of wealth or health do not tell the whole story of how society as a whole or particular populations within it are doing,” said Princeton’s Daniel Kahneman.