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Cross-country variations in happiness: Trends, age differentials and anomalies

Cross-country variations in happiness: Trends, age differentials and anomalies. Marion Burkimsher Affiliated to the University of Lausanne. Why examine the differentials? General interest… But also…. Is the factor that you’re correlating happiness with

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Cross-country variations in happiness: Trends, age differentials and anomalies

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  1. Cross-country variations in happiness:Trends, age differentials and anomalies Marion Burkimsher Affiliated to the University of Lausanne

  2. Why examine the differentials? General interest… But also…. Is the factor that you’re correlating happiness with just picking up these differentials or trends?

  3. Data • “Taking all things together, how happy would you say you are?“ • 18 countries with at least 6 out of 7 waves of data • 13 Western European: Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Sweden • 5Eastern European: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia. • Estonia not in 2002 wave; Czech Republic not in 2006 wave

  4. Country rankings, top, bottom, ups and downs • Comparing the French-speakers, France, Belgium& Switzerland • Young, middle-aged and seniors compared • Young adults, trends up and down • Effect of GDP on young and seniors • Relative happiness of young compared to seniors • Do generations become happier as they age?

  5. Country rankings, top, bottom, ups and downs • Comparing the French-speakers, France, Belgium & Switzerland • Young, middle-aged and seniors compared • Young adults, trends up and down • Effect of GDP on young and seniors • Relative happiness of young compared to seniors • Do generations become happier as they age?

  6. Happiness at each wave, ages 18-69, top rank

  7. Happiness at each wave, ages 18-69, 2nd highest rank

  8. Happiness at each wave, ages 18-69, bottom ranking

  9. Happiness at each wave, ages 18-69, biggest movers

  10. Country rankings, top, bottom, ups and downs • Comparing the French-speakers, France, Belgium & Switzerland • Young, middle-aged and seniors compared • Young adults, trends up and down • Effect of GDP on young and seniors • Relative happiness of young compared to seniors • Do generations become happier as they age?

  11. Does language affect happiness level? • Comparison of French-speakers • Conclusions: • All Swiss are happy • The French in France are significantly less happy • Dutch-speaking Belgians are happier than French-speaking Belgians • Young French-speaking Belgians & young French very similar • Senior (50-69) French-speakers least happy age in all countries • Is GDP the explanation?

  12. Country rankings, top, bottom, ups and downs • Comparing the French-speakers, France, Belgium & Switzerland • Young, middle-aged and seniors compared • Young adults, trends up and down • Effect of GDP on young and seniors • Relative happiness of young compared to seniors • Do generations become happier as they age?

  13. Happiness by age group Recession hit young adults hardest

  14. Happiness by age group Recession hit young adults in Eastern Europe even harder

  15. Country trends in happiness – young people

  16. Country trends in happiness – middle-aged

  17. Country trends in happiness – seniors

  18. Conclusion • Young adults across Europe are more similar to each other in happiness level than older people

  19. Country rankings, top, bottom, ups and downs • Comparing the French-speakers, France, Belgium & Switzerland • Young, middle-aged and seniors compared • Young adults, trends up and down • Effect of GDP on young and seniors • Relative happiness of young compared to seniors • Do generations become happier as they age?

  20. Downward trends in happiness – young people France, Ireland and Portugal dropped 6 places in happiness rank from 2002-2014 Happiness of young people in Hungary also dropped to a very low level

  21. Upward trends in happiness – young people

  22. Country rankings, top, bottom, ups and downs • Comparing the French-speakers, France, Belgium & Switzerland • Young, middle-aged and seniors compared • Young adults, trends up and down • Effect of GDP on young and seniors • Relative happiness of young compared to seniors • Do generations become happier as they age?

  23. Association of happiness with GDP – young people, 2014 R² = 0.47097 Spain Finland Happier than expected Norway Slovenia Poland Less happy than expected UK Ireland Portugal

  24. Association of happiness with GDP – seniors, 2014 R² = 0.83037 Finland Happier than expected Ireland Poland Less happy than expected

  25. Association of happiness with GDP – young people, 2014French-speaking countries Switzerland R² = 0.47097 Happier than expected Belgium France Less happy than expected

  26. Association of happiness with GDP – seniors, 2014 French-speaking countries R² = 0.83037 Happier than expected Switzerland Belgium Less happy than expected France

  27. Conclusion • GDP/pp appears to explain happiness of seniors more than young people

  28. Country rankings, top, bottom, ups and downs • Comparing the French-speakers, France, Belgium & Switzerland • Young, middle-aged and seniors compared • Young adults, trends up and down • Effect of GDP on young and seniors • Relative happiness of young compared to seniors • Do generations become happier as they age?

  29. Ratio of happiness score,seniors : young adults Average score over all waves The older generation are happier than young people in Ireland, Denmark, the UK and (marginally) Sweden Expressed another way, young people are (slightly) less happy than older people in these countries

  30. Association of ratio happiness seniors:young and GDP/pp The wealthier the country, the happier are the older generation compared to young adults Seniors happier than expected / young less happy UK Ireland Norway Seniors not as happy as expected

  31. Conclusion • The UK and Ireland may be favouring the older generation at the expense of younger people (because they vote more and there are more of them….)

  32. Country rankings, top, bottom, ups and downs • Comparing the French-speakers, France, Belgium & Switzerland • Young, middle-aged and seniors compared • Young adults, trends up and down • Effect of GDP on young and seniors • Relative happiness of young compared to seniors • Do generations become happier as they age?

  33. Cohort trends in happinessDo generations become happier as they age? The older generation (Baby Boomer) has become happier as they aged from 50s to 60s

  34. Cohort trends in happinessDo generations become happier as they age? The increase in happiness of the older generation is even more marked in Eastern Europe, though they don’t catch up with those younger. Did the sad ones die off?

  35. Conclusion • The Baby Boomer generation has become happier as they have aged from their 50s into their 60s. • The younger generations have essentially stayed stable.

  36. Conclusions • Stability! • Recession hit happiness levels in some countries much harder than others • Young happier than old in general • Generations more equal in happiness level the higher their GDP/pp • Young generation more similar in happiness across Europe than older generations • Happiness closely related to GDP/pp, especially for older people • Baby Boomers are becoming happier as they age

  37. Thank you drmarionb@gmail.com

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