1. lower
2. middle
3. upper

% (very) happy    T1     T2    T3   T3-T1
                 2013   2015  2017
lower             50%    53%   64%  +14%
middle            55%    57%   67%  +12%
upper             65%    67%   74%  + 9%
-difference
    upper-lower  +15%   +14%  +10%  - 5%

Self-reported income  at household or family level 
after taxation.

Reported income

Individual happiness by current income.

Respondents were asked to compare their present 
position with that of the past, approximately at the 
time when they started earning. They were asked to 
indicate any improvement or deterioration in their 
financial position on a scale of -5 to +5. (CHANGEE)

Individual happiness by change in economic 
position. 

OPRC controlled for:
-change in social conditions
-current log of income per capita

Household's income net of taxes and including benefits, 
adjusted for household size, using OECD equivalence 
weights which are 1.0 for the first adult, 0.7 for 
other adults and 0.5 for children under 18.

Assessed at T1  (1984) and T2 (1991)

T1 happiness by T1 income: raw correlation

T1 happiness by T1 income: disattenuated r

T1 happiness by T2 income: raw r

Disattenuated correlations are obtained by 
assuming validity coefficients of 0.9 for income 
and 0.8 for happiness

T1 happiness by T2 income: disattenuated r

T2 happiness by T1 income: raw r

T2 happiness by T1 income: disattenuated r

T2 happiness by T2 income: raw r

T2 happiness by T2 income: disattenuated r

Log net hourly wage of last job in euros

B controlled for:
- Individual characteristics
  a) age and age squared
  b) disabled
  c) marital status
  d) having a partner
  e) employment status spouse
  f) employment status partner
  g) (number of) children in household
  h) education
  i) migrant status
  j) gender
  k) duration of last job
  l) unemployment benefits
  m) reason of termination of last job
- Environmental characteristics:
  n) national unemployment rate
  o) region/state in Germany
- Interview-specific characteristics:
  p) interview cohort
  q) time between unemployment entry and

Natural logarithm of Adjusted Monthly Household Net 
Income three years before

Data: earlier wave in this panel study

West Germany 1988-2007, N=80337

Germany 1994-2007, N=59527

Beta’s controlled for:
- Marital status
- Age
- Household size
- Number of children
- Years of education
- Living with parents when 16
- Log of monthly household income
- Log of reference income
- Attending events
- Social participation
- Unemployed
- Student
- Non-worker
- Retired
- Doing military or civil service

in last case additionally controlled for: Living 
in West Germany

Financial year disposable personal income, converted 
with 2001 consumper price index (log)

Invididuals needed to respond about their income 
sources (both public and private) and afterwards 
disposable income is computed by estimating income 
taxes and transfers.

CURRENT income by CURRENT happiness

PAST income by CURRENT happiness
- income 1 year ago

- income 2 years ago

- income 3 years ago

- income 4 years ago

OPRC controlled for:
- Reference group income
- Age
- Education level
- Gender
- Employment status
- Health
- Living in/outside city
- Indiginous
- Marital status
- Parents together
- Volunteering
- Care performed
- Working hours
- Commuting

Have you experienced low income (wage, salary)
(a) during the last year ?
(b) ever in your life ?
Answer:  No (=0) or Yes (=1).

during the last year

ever in your life

never:                   M = 4.00
ever in your life:       M = 3.72
95% CI for difference:   [0.21 ; 0.35]

selfreport of monthly household net income in EURO

log transformed.
T1:1994; T2:1999; T3:2004; T4:2009

CURRENT income by CURRENT happines

CURRENT income by LATER happiness (5 years)

b-fix controlled for current:
Employment status
Demographic
 - gender
 - age
 - region
 - education
 - marital status
Household status
 - number of children
 - number of adult
Health staus
 - doctor visits
 - hospital stays
 - degree disability

Average income of the individuals  averaged over all 
years in the panel (1992-2005)

Both sexes

Men only

Women only

OPRC's controlled for:
- employment status
- transitory income (truncated model)
- family status
- age, age squared
- number of children
- years of education
- house ownership
- health indicators

OPRC's cannot be interpreted as an absolute effect 
size

OPRC's mean that a higher permanent income 
corresponds to more happiness and that the 
difference is similar among males and females

Yearly equivalence household income
1) Poor, below 60% of median equivalent income in 
nation
0) Not poor

a) Incidence: whether individual is poor
b) Intensity: how poor an individual is
c) Chronic poverty: occurrence of periods of poverty
d) Persistence of poverty: to what extent those periods 
are linked together
e) Past poverty

Assessed every years
b, c and d only individuals who participated more than 
10 years in the panel

Incidence of poverty

Intensity of poverty

Past poverty (scarring)

Persistence of poverty

Chronic poverty

b-fix's  controlled for:
- Employment status
- Age group
- Number of  years of education
- Marital status
- Dummy for East Germany
- Number of children in the household

Relative income to nation
a currently (T)
b one year earlier (T-1)

Relative income to nation (T), postive

Relative income to nation (T), negative

Relative income to nation (T-1), positive

Relative income to nation (T-1), negative

Not reported

CURRENT happiness (T) by CURRENT income (T)

T1 happiness by T1 income: r=+.10
T2 happiness by T2 income: r=+.12
T3 happiness by T3 income: r=+.14

CURRENT happiness (T) by EARLIER income (T-1)

T2 happiness by T1 income: r=+.09
T3 happiness by T1 income: r=+.10
T3 happiness by T2 income: r=+.08

EARLIER happiness (T) by LATER income (T+)

T1 happiness by T2 income: r=+.12
T1 happiness by T3 income: r=+.12
T2 happiness by T3 income: r=+.14

Aggregated income of all household members (log)

Assesed every year

Last year CHANGE in happiness (T - T-1) by CURRENT 
income (T)

Last year CHANGE in happiness (T - T-1) by PAST 
(T-1) income

b controlled for:
- Household size
- Years of education
- Home owner
- Marital status
- Employment status

Real household-equivalence income: real household 
income divided by equivalence scale
(equivalence scale not reported)

PAST income by CURRENT happiness
1 year ago

2 years ago

3 years ago

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income

LATER income by CURRENT happiness

Real net household income (log)

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income

b's controled for:
- age squared
- sexe
- education
- marital status
- work status
- state dummies

b additionally controled for average income of 
similar people

b additionally controled for past incomes (1, 2 
and 3 years

CURRENT happiness by PAST (T-1) household income

CURRENT happiness by PAST (T-2) household income

Current happiness by past (T-3) household income

b's controled for:
- personal characteristics
- average income of similar compatriots
- relative income

Real Household post-government income per year in 
German Marks

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
- Gender
  - males         Beta = +.28
  - females       Beta = +.17 
- political preference
  - left          Beta = +.28
  - right         Beta = +.21
- employment
  - employee      Beta = +.20
  - self employed Beta = +.52

CURRENT happiness by PAST income
1 year ago

2 years ago

3 years ago

4 years ago

CURRENT happiness (T) by CHANGE income (one year)

income rose

income declined

All betas (fixed effects) controlled for:
- status
- marital state
- employment state
- education
- physical health
- number of children
- child birth in past year

Household income previous year (log)

b-fix (+0.002) controlled for:
- yearly change in household income
- reference group income
- age
- employment status
- health status
- marital status
- education level

a) Individual income: includes cash and non cash 
salaries, other paid work and income, unemployment 
benefits and pensions
b) Household income: household income in its broadest 
sense (including rents)

Assessed every year

PAST YEAR's individual income

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income (log)

Controlled for:
- age
- marital status
- household size
- mother tongue
- believer
- gender
- region
- round
- health

not reported

Assessed each year: T1, T2 and T3

CURRENT happiness(T) by CURRENT income (T)
                               Raw  .Corrected
T1 happiness by T1 income: r = +.19  +.36
T2 happiness by T2 income: r = +.18  +.32
T3 happiness by T3 income: r = +.12  +.25
Correction for measurement error in happiness and 
income (disattenuation)

CURRENT happiness (T) by EARLIER (T-1) income
                               raw    corrected
T2 happiness by T1 income: r = +.10   +.21
T3 happiness by T1 income: r = +.08   +.11
T3 happiness by T2 income: r = +.11   +.19
Correction for measurement error in happiness and 
income (disattenuation)

EARLIER Happiness by LATER income
T1 happiness by T2 income: r = +.18
T1 happiness by T3 income: r = +.14
T2 happiness by T3 income: r = +.12

CHANGE happiness (T controled for T-1) by CHANGE 
income (T minus T-1): 1 year lags 

Beta's controled for
- Age
- Education
and corrected for measurement error

Log household equiv. income

Income categories in quintiles

Incomequintile  Mean Difference   sd    N
1 (reference)   7.76             1.80  1627
2               7.98   +0.24     1.47  1445
3               8.12   +0.36     1.37  1347
4               8.19   +0.43     1.31  1265
5               8.39   +0.63     1.23  1073

CURRENT INCOME

EARLIER INCOME

Beta's controlled for:
- health
- age
- marital status
- having children
- employment status
- death of a closely related person
- termination of a close relationship
- conflicts with/among related persons
- physical activity

Self-report on single question:
Adding up your income from all sources, roughly what is 
the total yearly incane before taxes of your immediate 
family--including
your income, the wages of everyone else in the family 
who works and income from any other source?

Assessed at T1(1973) and T2(1977)

T1-T2 CHANGE in happiness by T1 income (T2 
happiness by T1 income, controlling for T1 
happiness).

Beta addtionally controlled for:
- T1-T2 residential moving
- T1 age
- T1 education
- T1-T2 change in intrinsic job rewards
- T1-T2 change in extrinsic job rewards

Closed question asked 11 years ago at 
T1(1969)

T1 income by T5 happiness (11 year interval
Males:   r= +.02 (ns)        
Females: r= -.13 (ns)

Have you experienced scantiness of unemployment benefit
(a) during the last year ?
(b) ever in your life ?
Answer: No (=0) or Yes (=1)

during the last year

ever in your life

never:                   M = 3.99
ever in your life:       M = 3.54
95% CI for difference:   [0.37 ; 0.54]

Have you experienced too high living costs (rent, 
mortage, loan etc.)
(a) during the last year ?
(b) ever in your life ?
Answer:  No (=0)  or  Yes  (=1).

during the last year

ever in your life

never:                   M = 3.98
ever in your life:       M = 3.61
95% CI for difference:   [0.30 ; 0.44]

Have you experienced difficulties in supporting your 
family
(a) during the last year ?
(b) ever in your life ?
Answer:  No (=0) or Yes (=1)

during the last year

ever in your life

never:                   M = 3.96
ever in your life:       M = 3.50
95% CI for difference:   [0.37 ; 0.55]

Have you experienced obligatory expenditure growing too 
heavy
(a) during the last year ?
(b) ever in your life ?
Answer: No (=0) or Yes (=1).

during the last year

ever in your life

never:                   M = 4.02
ever in your life:       M = 3.71
95% CI for difference:   [0.24 ; 0.38]

Have you experienced being heavily indebted
(a) during the last year ?
(b) ever in your life ?
Answer:  No (=0) or Yes (=1)

during the last year

ever in your life

never:                   M = 3.95
ever in your life:       M = 3.41
95% CI for difference:   [0.45 ; 0.63]

Have you experienced scantiness of social allowance 
(disability etc.)
(a) during the last year ?
(b) ever in your life ?
Answers:  No(=0)  or  Yes(=1).

during the last year.

ever in your life

never:                   M = 3.92
ever in your life:       M = 3.71
95% CI for difference:   [0.13 ; 0.29]

Have you experienced becoming dependent upon others
(a) during the last year ?
(b) ever in your life ?
Answers:  No(=0)  or  Yes(=1).

during the last year

ever in your life

never:                   M = 3.90
ever in your life:       M = 3.58
95% CI for difference:   [0.20 ; 0.44]

Have you experienced financial problems (because of 
illness)
(a) during the last year ?
(b) ever in your life ?
Answer: No (=0) or Yes (=1)

during the last year

ever in your life

never:                   M = 4.00
ever in your life:       M = 3.53
95% CI for difference:   [0.40 ; 0.54]

Have you experienced scantiness of a pension
(a) during the last year ?
(b) ever in your life ?
Answers:  No(=0)  or  Yes(=1).

during the last year

ever in your life

never:                   M = 3.90
ever in your life:       M = 3.71
95% CI for difference:   [0.09 ; 0.29]

Poverty in the past (respondents observed for at least 
10 years).

ALL

Men

Women

Age<=60

Age >60 

All beta's controlled for:
- age
- employed
- residence East or West Germany
- education (years)
- marital status
- number of children in household

Single direct question:
"Please imagine a 10-step ladder, on the bottom of 
which, on the first step, stand the poorest 10% of 
people in our country, and on the highest step, the 
tenth, stand the richest 10% in our country. On which 
step of the 10 was your household 4 years ago?"
 a Downward ranking: People who rated themselves 5 or 
lower on the ladder
b Upward ranking: People who rated themselves higher 
than 5 on the ladder.

ALL NATIONS

Upward ranking

Downward ranking

DEVELOPED NATIONS

Upward ranking

Downward ranking

TRANSITION NATIONS

Upward ranking

Downward ranking

Beta's controlled for: 
-Relative income:
  -present and future income rank
  -relative household position
  -relative parents position
-Social demographic:
  -age squared
  -gender
  -household size
  -marital status
  -education
  -employment
  -log household consumption
-Country dummies

Index of two single questions on satisfaction with:
a: The income you and your family have
b: Your standard of living: the things you have; 
housing ,car, furniture, etc.
Both items scored on 1-9 D-T rating scale, summation by 
average.

Panel analysis over four waves (1981, 1983, 1985, 1987) 
which estimates following effects
 - bottom up: effect of satisfaction with standard of 
living on life satisfaction
 - topdown: effect of life satisfaction on satisfaction 
with standard of living
 - contemporaneous: within wave correlation
 - lagged: over time (waves) correlation

Contemporaneous bottom up:satisfaction with 
standard of living makes people happy

Contemporaneous top down: happy people are 
satisfied with their standard of living

Lagged bottum up: satisfaction with standard of 
living makes people happier later

Lagged top down: happy people become more 
satisfied with standard of living

Beta's controlled for satisfaction with
 - marriage
 - job
 - leisure
 - friendship
 - health

Closed question rated on a 9- point scale (delighted 
...  terrible) Assessed at T2.

Happiness T2 by satisfaction T2, controlling for 
happiness T1 and satisfaction T1.

ß can be interpreted as regression between CHANGE 
OF HAPPINESS and CHANGE OF SATISFACTION in time.

Self report on:
- satisfaction with the income you and your family have
- satisfaction with the pay and fringe benefits you get
- how secure are you financially?

Assessed on a 1-7 scale:1 delighted...
7 terrible

Assessed at T1 1 or 2 weeks before vacation and T3 the 
week after vacation

T1 life satisfaction by T1 satisfaction with money

T3 life satisfaction by T3 satisfaction with money

T1 satisfaction with money by T3 life satisfaction

T1 satisfaction with money by T3 life satisfaction

Months on welfare in past 2 years

Year 2: when half of the single mothers were 
treated in an employement program

Year 5: when the employment program had stopped 
and treated mothers worked full time

b coefficients controled for:
- randomly selected into the program (or not)
- age, age squared
- age of youngest child
- education
- work in past 3 years
- weekly earnings in past year
- on welfare
- region in the UK

Selfreport on single question:

The importance to you personally of being very well off 
financially?
1: not important
2: somewhat important
3: very important
4: essential

Assessed at T1 (1976)

T1 financial goals by T2 happiness

B controlled for T2 income

Effect of materialism at T1 on happiness at T2 
diminished to zero at highest income level.

Expected change in income in next 5 years:
A Big increase
B Small increase
C Decrease

Assumed dummies

Only urban respondents

Measure and ratings not reported

URBAN

Expected change      b    
A Big increase      +.28(05)
B Small increase    +.10(05)
C Decrease          -.24(01)

b's controlled for:
- basic variables:
  - gender
  - age and age squared
  - marital status
  - health
- conventional economic variables
  - log of p.c. household income
  - net wealth
  - working hours (100's per year)
- comparison variables 
  - fairness income distribution in China/city
  - living standard in city
  - mean provincial income p.c. (log)
- insecurity variables 
  - unemployed
  - self-experienced important social problems
  - enterprise profit/loss
  - laid off work sometime 2002

RURAL

Expected change      b    
A Big increase      +.28(05)
B Small increase    +.10(05)
C Decrease          -.24(01)

RURAL-URBAN MIGRANTS

Expected change      b    
A Big increase      +.30(01)
B Small increase    +.03(ns)
C Decrease          -.40(01)

Self-perceived change in current living standards 
compared to 5 years ago:
A better
B worse

Assumed dummies:
1 Yes
0 No

Only rural population

Question and ratings not reported

Living standards     b
A better            +.18(01)
B worse             -.18(01)

b's controlled for:
- basic variables:
  - gender
  - age and age squared
  - marital status
  - health
- conventional economic variables
  - log of p.c. household income
  - net wealth
  - working hours
- comparison variables 
  - household income compared to village mean
  - expected income over next 5 years
  - gini of household income p.c. county level
- attitudinal variables 
  - degree of harmony among lineages
  - degree of harmony in village
  - agree that money is important
  - importance of family
  - importance of friends

Selff report of change in household income per capita.
0 no change/decrease
1 increase

Subjects with at least two observations, so not all 
followed 10 years.

T1-T2 CHANGE in happines by T1-T2 CHANGE in income
             age <30   30-49     >49

- women      +.22(01)  +.15(01)  +.04(ns)
- men        +.11(01)  +.21(01)  -.06(ns)

B's controled for CHANGE in:
- labour market position
- marital status
- self perceived disability
- self perceived health

Log per capita income

25.153 observations

CHANGE happiness by CHANGE income.

Wives

Husbands

b-fix controled for:
- houshold head
- spouse
- year of survey

Log of self reported household income

Lag of change not reported, probably T to T+1

CURRENT income by CURRENT happiness

OPRC controled for
- employment status
- marital status
- health status
- sexe
- age, age-squared
- education

CURRENT income by CHANGE in happiness
b-fix controled for CURRENT 
- employment status
- marital status
- health status
- sexe
- age, age-squared
- education

CHANGE income by CHANGE in happiness
b controled for CHANGE in
- employment
- health
- marital status
- education

amount of bonus in $

T1: one month before bonus
T2: 3 months later

T1 happiness

T2 happiness

Beta controlled for:
- % bonus spend for others

In the last 10 years, have you voluntarily made a 
long-term change in your lifestyle, other than planned 
retirement, which has resulted in you earning less 
money?
  1 Yes (downshifter)
  0 No (non-downshifter)

Downshifters:     Ma = 4.18, SD = 0.67
Non-downshifters: Ma = 4.19, SD = 0.81
 -Difference:         -0.01

Ma adjusted for: 
 -Sex
 -Education
 -Partner
 -Employment
 -Household type
 -Marital status
 -Dwelling status

Natural log of household income

yearly CHANGE in happiness by CHANGE in income

OLRC (5.28E-07) controlled for:
- age squared
- English speaking ability
- marital status
- lone parent
- number of children
- highest level of educational attainment
- self-employed
- employment status
- years at current adress
- life events
- state/territory dummies
- year dummies

Fixed effects ordered logit estimate

Disposable household income (log): difference between 
gross household income and estimated taxes

yearly CHANGE in happiness by CHANGE in income
Men only, similar results for females. 

Beta controlled for:
- personality
- age
- marital status
- number of children in household
- number of individuals in household
- health status
- education
- employment status
- total weekly work-hours
- reginal indicators
- time fixed effects

Self-report on single question for every household 
member with income:
Please recall and fill in the following form regarding 
your personal income earned during 1998-2002.
Income is accumulated and distinguished by: 
1: A fall in HH income in one of the years
0: No fall in HH income in all years

OPRC controlled for:
- Household income
- Unemployed
- Age (squared)
- Gender
- Marital status
- Sociability
- Dependent relatives
- Belief in religious tolerance
- Health
- Medical insurance
- Political factors
- Occupation type
- Hukou location
- Province

Reduction of pre-crisis net household income in €  
0: below 10%, stable or increased income.
1: of at least 10 % or more.

b controled for:
- children under 14 in the household, 
- pre-corona satisfaction
- short-time work
- working hours
- system-relevant job
- remote work
- self-employment
- age
- gender
- education
- migration background
- pre-crisis employment
- pre-crisis log-household income
- single household
- number of household members
- East Germany.

Change Montly household income (log), in Euros

CHANGE happiness by CHANGE in income

Beta (+.487), based on pooled OLS, controled for:
- age
- sexe
- Household size (log)
- Marital status
- Employment status
- Disabled
- Child dummy

b unaffected by additional control for:
- personality
- year
- region

Similar among males (+.46) and females (+.42)

CHANGE happiness by CHANGE in income

Beta (+.165), based on fixed effects, controlled 
for
- household size (log)
- marital status
- children (dummy)
- year
- region

Stronger among males (+.21) than females (+.15)

Interaction with personality:
- stronger among the conscientiousness (males) and 
neurotics (males and females)
- unaffected by openness, extraversion and 
agreeableness

Monthly net household income (in real Euro's, 2003)

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
b controlled for:
- marital status
- number of close friends
- number of persons in household
- german citizenship
- age
- subjective health-status
- employment status
- educational career
- year dummy 2008
- regions

Net household income (montly)

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
West-Germany only

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
East-Germany only

b's are slightly smaller for individuals with age 
<45, and slightly larger for individuals with age 
>45

b's controlled for:
- Marriage
- Cohabiting
- Children
- Health status
- Education
- Work status
- Interview form
- Time in panel
- Year of last interview
- Household size
- Age group
- Year of survey
- Regional/Federal unemployment

in Euros

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income

PROBIT ADAPTED OLS. 

B controlled for:
- social characteristics
  - age
  - gender
  - education
  - household size
  - employment status
  - marital status
  - nationality
- personality traits
- accomodation
- absolute lack of
  - facilities (bath, toilet, etc)
  - durables   (car, telephone, etc)
  - health     (bad health, disabled etc)
  

Random effects. Fixed effects: B = +.126 (01)

B additionally controlled for:
- absolute lack of
  - social life (going to cultural events, etc)

Random effects. Fixed effects: B = +.18 (01)

B additionally controlled for:
- relative (instead of absolute) lack of
  - facilities
  - durables
  - accomodation
  - health
  - savings

Random effects. Fixed effects: +.041 (ns)

B additionally controlled for:
- relative (instead of absolute) lack of
  - social life

Random effects. Fixed effects: B = +.086 (05)

B controlled for:
- social characteristics
- personality traits
- absolute lack 
- relative lack

Random effects. Fixed effects: B = +.057 (01)

B additionally controlled for:
- social life (absolute and relative lack)

Random effects. Fixed effects: B = +.108 (01)

Net equivalized household income (in price level of 
1995, euro)

CURRENT happiness by CURRENT household income (ln)

CURRENT happiness (T) by CHANGE in household 
income (T-1 to T)

b's controlled for:
- Age squared
- Marital status
- Number of children in the household
- Health satisfaction
- Employment status
- House ownership
- Person requiring health in the household
- Self-administerd-interview
- Regional GDP/capita growth

Monthly disposable income per capita (in euro) (log)

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
Beta controlled for:
- Age, age squared
- Health
- Number of friends
- Martial status
- Children
- Employment status
- Church Attendance
- Social trust

Percentage change of equivalent montly household income 
( T-1 to T)

CURRENT Happiness (T) by earlier CHANGE in 
household income (T-1 to T)

Positive change only

Negative change only

Change (in %) in post-government montly household 
income from 1995 to 1996 (log)

Assessed at T1: 1995; T2: 1996

T1 happiness by T1-T2 CHANGE in income level

T2 happiness by T1-T2 CHANGE in income level

Beta's controlled for:
- Age
- Education
- Marital status
- Employment status

Family income: net household income (log)

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
All

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
Only West-Germany

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
Only East-Germany

Fixed effect analysis controlling for:
- age
- education
- number of children living in the household
- whether individual works

Real household income (ln), post tax

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
men only

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
women only

Beta's controlled for:
- marital status
- number of children
- disability
- employment status
- border east/west germany
- year dummies

Natural log of real household income, post tax

Assessed at T1: 1991, T2: 1996 and T3: 2001

T1-T2 CHANGE income by T1-T2 CHANGE happiness
Mean change in happiness due to change in income. 
Total change in happiness in this period was 
+0.545 point

Males
- all           DM = +0.281 (05)
- young         DM = +0.238 (05)
- old           DM = +0.378 (05)
- low educated  DM = +0.236 (05)
- high educated DM = +0.399 (05)
Females
- all           DM = +0.255 (05)
- young         DM = +0.257 (05)
- old           DM = +0.256 (05)
- low educated  DM = +0.219 (05)
- high educated DM = +0.310 (05)

T2-T3 CHANGE income by T2-T3 CHANGE happiness
Mean change in happiness due to change in income. 
Total change in happiness in this period was 
+0.144 point

Males
- all           DM = -0.004 (05)
- young         DM = +0.007 (05)
- old           DM = -0.054 (05)
- low educated  DM = -0.003 (05)
- high educated DM = -0.006 (05)
Females
- all           DM = +0.005 (05)
- young         DM = -0.008 (05)
- old           DM = +0.006 (05)
- low educated  DM = +0.004 (05)
- high educated DM = -0.016 (05)

Montly net real equivalized household income

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
West-Germany, 1991-1999

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
East-Germany, 1991-1999

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
West-Germany, 2000-2009

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
East-Germany, 2000-2009

All b's controlled for:
- Age,
- Marital status
- Size household
- Education level
- Employment status
- Comparison income

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
      Males      Females
East: Beta=+.21  Beta=+.20

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
      Males      Females
West: Beta=+.13  Beta=+.13

Beta's controlled for:
- Year
- Age
- Foreigner-born
- Marital status
- Death of other family member in last year
- Disabled
- Ln(1+number of days in hospital in last year)
- Number of children
- Had a baby in last year
- Invalid in household
- Years of schooling
- Employed status
- Moved home within country in last year
- Moved to West/East Germany following 
reunification
- Live on the border of East and West Germany

Beta of East Germany additionally controlled for :
- Being member of the Communist Party before 
reunification

Pre- and post-government annual income are calibrated 
for inflation to reflect euros in 2011 using the 
Consumer Price Index. Post-government income is 
disposable income.

Data in SOEP.

No controls, all waves,all 16 states.

Individual happiness by state-specific average 
disposable household-income.

Controls at individual level:
-gender
-age
-years of education
-married 
-number of Household Adults
-number of Household Children
-years of participation in SOEP

Controls at state level (16 states)
-Net Gini
-Income Redistribution

CHANGE individual Happiness by CHANGE in one's 
disposable household income (income-mobility).

Controls at individual level:
-gender
-age
-years of education
-married 
-number of Household Adults
-number of Household Children
-years of participation in SOEP

Controls at state level (16 states)
-Net Gini
-Income Redistribution

Similar b's if additionally controlled for tax and 
transfers (difference tax paid and welfare 
received).

Individual-level government taxation was calculated by 
subtracting post-government income (log) from 
pre-government income (log), to capture the change in 
income  from taxes, welfare and other sources of 
government transfer. A positive outcome means that 
participants had higher pre-government income than 
post-government income (paid more than received).

No controls, all waves,all 16 states.

Real household-equivalence income: real household 
income divided by equivalence scale
(equivalence scale not reported)

PAST income by CURRENT happiness
1 year ago

2 years ago

3 years ago

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income

LATER income by CURRENT happiness

Net equivalized household income (in price level of 
1995, euro)

CURRENT happiness by CURRENT household income (ln)

CURRENT happiness (T) by CHANGE in household 
income growth (T-1 to T)

b's controlled for:
- Age squared
- Marital status
- Number of children in the household
- Health satisfaction
- Employment status
- House ownership
- Person requiring health in the household
- Self-administerd-interview
- Regional GDP/capita growth

Family income (ln)

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
Men only

Married men only

Married women only

Married women, not working only

Married women, working only

All betas controlled for:
- Age
- Nationality
- Education level
- Region, year dummies

Log of monthly income in Euro

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
Males only
Stronger among unhappy

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
Females only
Similar among happy and unhappy

Controlled for:
- Age squared
- Good health (0/1)
- Time fixed effects
- Unemployment

Household income (log)

yearly CHANGE in happiness by CHANGE in income

OPRC controlled for:
- Sexe
- Age
- Number of children
- Marital status
- Education level
- Dummy west-germany
- Immigration background
- Employment status
- Worries
- Health status

Real net household income (log)

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income

b's controled for:
- age squared
- sexe
- education
- marital status
- work status
- state dummies

b additionally controled for average income of 
similar people

b additionally controled for past incomes (1, 2 
and 3 years

CURRENT happiness by PAST (T-1) household income

CURRENT happiness by PAST (T-2) household income

Current happiness by past (T-3) household income

b's controled for:
- personal characteristics
- average income of similar compatriots
- relative income

A Career: monthly earning above 25th percentile of 
college educated males (vs not)
B Family situation
    a cohabiting with a partner (vs not)
    b children; minor child in the household (vs not)
    c family: cohabits with partner and child(ren) (vs 
not)

Only SOEP data.

CHANGE happiness by CHANGE in.. ONLY
A: made career only                   (vs not)

Ba: got partnered only                (vs not)

Bc: started family only               (vs not)

CHANGE happiness by CHANGE to career + partner

Among women who work half-time, while partner 
works full-time and has a high income

b-fix's controled for:
- age
- age square
- migration background
- year fixed effects
- indicator variables for birth cohort

Among women who work full-time, while partner does 
not and has a relatively low income

Among women who work full-time, while partner also 
works full time and has a relatively high income

Real Household post-government income per year in 
German Marks

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
- Gender
  - males         Beta = +.28
  - females       Beta = +.17 
- political preference
  - left          Beta = +.28
  - right         Beta = +.21
- employment
  - employee      Beta = +.20
  - self employed Beta = +.52

CURRENT happiness by PAST income
1 year ago

2 years ago

3 years ago

4 years ago

CURRENT happiness (T) by CHANGE income (one year)

income rose

income declined

All betas (fixed effects) controlled for:
- status
- marital state
- employment state
- education
- physical health
- number of children
- child birth in past year

Annual disposable family income (log)

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
b controlled for:
- Family composition
- Unemployment status
- Years of education
- Age
- Weekly hours worked

Respondents were asked to compare their present 
position with that of the past, approximately at the 
time when they started earning. They were asked to 
indicate any improvement or deterioration in their 
financial position on a scale of -5 to +5. (CHANGEE)

Individual happiness by change in economic 
position. 

OPRC controlled for:
-change in social conditions
-current log of income per capita

Respondents were asked to rate their net household 
income on a scale from 1 to 10 where each point 
corresponds to a specific income bracket. Average 
values of the brackets have been transformed in real 
Yen of 2010

Women                  DM = - 1.915 (.001)
Elderly (aged 60+)     DM = + 0.196 (.001)

Calculated by Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition

Inclusion in income support programme for poor 
households with vulnerable
1 yes (Treatment)
0  no (Control)
Within each of seven districts two locations were 
randomized for immediate implementation and the 
remaining two served as control sites.

The support programme aims at encouraging fostering and 
retention of children and promoting human capital 
development by providing regular cash transfers to 
families living with OVC  (Orphans and vulnerable 
children). The programme is being abbreviated to CT-OVC 
(Cash Transfer programmes for OVC).

% happy (strongly agree and agree)

- Treatment (inclusion) 49,6%
- Control               42,2%
Difference              +7,4%

- Treatment (inclusion) 49,5%
- Control               43,4%
Difference              +6,1%

- Treatment (inclusion) 44,4%
- Control               38,6%
Difference              +5,8%

Weighted linear probability regression (WLS).

Ordinary linear probability least squares 
regression. (OLS)

b's are controlled for 
- Age (x100), Age squared (x1000)
- Sex
- Household position
- Literacy
- Chronic Illness
- Current Handicap

Yearly change of household income (log)

b-fix controlled for:
- earlier household income
- reference group income
- age
- employment status
- health status
- marital status
- education level

Net household income percentile

T1: 2006-2007, T2: 2011, T3: 2013

T1-T3 CHANGE in happiness by T1-T3 CHANGE in net 
household income percentile

b-fix weighted by country population, controlled 
for
- age square
- selfperceived health, no. of daily limitation
- income difficult
- partner's health
- survey time

Similar result when excluding health

1: higher annual household income post tax, before 
lottery.
0: lower  annual household income post tax, before 
lottery.

Lottery players only

B controled for:
- Car consumption
  - bought a car after lottery
  - number of cars
  - age of cars
- Monthly expenditures
  - food at home
  - food away
  - transport
  - other
- Occasional expenditures
  - exterior renovations
  - other renovations
  - vacation
  - non-car durables
- Other factors
  - PostCodeLottery (player) now
  - Charity

Selfreport on single question: What is your total 
monthly family income, including pensions, aliments and 
so on for the last month after tax?
Logarithm is used

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
1997

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
1998

b's controlled for family size

Real household income per month, in roubles

T1: 1995; T2:1996; T3:1998; T4:2000; T5:2001

T1-T5 CHANGE income by T1-T5 CHANGE happiness
Mean change in happiness due to change in income. 
Total change in happiness in this period was 
+0.523 point (men), +0.584 (women). Differences 
are due to the changes in income.

Males
- T1-T2         DM = -0.010 (05)
- T2-T3         DM = -0.089 (05)
- T3-T4         DM = +0.093 (05)
- T4-T5         DM = +0.060 (05)
- T1-T5         DM = +0.055 (05)
Females
- T1-T2         DM = -0.008 (ns)
- T2-T3         DM = -0.100 (05)
- T3-T4         DM = +0.100 (05)
- T4-T5         DM = +0.058 (05)
- T1-T5         DM = +0.050 (05)

a) Individual income: includes cash and non cash 
salaries, other paid work and income, unemployment 
benefits and pensions
b) Household income: household income in its broadest 
sense (including rents)

Assessed every year

PAST YEAR's individual income

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income (log)

Controlled for:
- age
- marital status
- household size
- mother tongue
- believer
- gender
- region
- round
- health

not reported

Assessed each year: T1, T2 and T3

CURRENT happiness(T) by CURRENT income (T)
                               Raw  .Corrected
T1 happiness by T1 income: r = +.19  +.36
T2 happiness by T2 income: r = +.18  +.32
T3 happiness by T3 income: r = +.12  +.25
Correction for measurement error in happiness and 
income (disattenuation)

CURRENT happiness (T) by EARLIER (T-1) income
                               raw    corrected
T2 happiness by T1 income: r = +.10   +.21
T3 happiness by T1 income: r = +.08   +.11
T3 happiness by T2 income: r = +.11   +.19
Correction for measurement error in happiness and 
income (disattenuation)

EARLIER Happiness by LATER income
T1 happiness by T2 income: r = +.18
T1 happiness by T3 income: r = +.14
T2 happiness by T3 income: r = +.12

CHANGE happiness (T controled for T-1) by CHANGE 
income (T minus T-1): 1 year lags 

Beta's controled for
- Age
- Education
and corrected for measurement error

Ln yearky total personal income

LEVEL of income

b-fix controled for CURRENT
- personal characteristics
  - sexe
  - age
  - marital status
  - employment status
  - education
  - religion
  - language
  - political preference
  - self rated health
  - foreign born
- Centralization reform in canton

Unaffected by additional control for
- canton characteristics
  - income per capita
  - unemployment rate
- municipal population size

CHANGE income over 12 years

b-fix controled for CHANGE in
- personal characteristics
  - sexe
  - age
  - marital status
  - employment status
  - self rated health
- centralizatiion reform in canton

Unaffected by additional control for:
- canton characteristics
  - income per capita
  - unemployment rate
- municipal population size

T1-T2 change in response to question about monthly 
income from earnings and/or benefits

Assessed at T1 and T2 (2 years interval)

T1-T2 INCREASE in income by T2 happiness

T1-T2 DECREASE in income by T2 happiness

B's controled for:
- T1 happiness
- T1 mental health status (good, moderate, poor)
- T1 objective conditions

Net household income (montly in pound)

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
All

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
Age <45 only

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income
Age >=45 only

b's controlled for:
- marital status
- children
- health status
- education
- work status
- time in panel
- year of last interview
- household size
- age group
- wave number
- regions
- regional unemployment

Net real equalized household income (in price level of 
1987, pounds)

yearly CHANGE in happiness by CHANGE in household 
income

CURRENT Happiness (T) by CHANGE in household 
income (T-1 to T)

b's controlled for:
- Age squared
- Marital status
- Number of children in the household
- Health satisfaction
- Employment status
- House ownership
- Person requiring health in the household
- Regional GDP/capita growth

Real household income (in 1000 USD)

Converted to US$ at 2005 constant prices

yearly CHANGE in happiness by yearly CHANGE in 
income

Among neutrotics stronger effect of low income but 
smaller effect of high income.

Interactions with other BIG-5 personality traits 
non-significant.

Controlled for:
- Age, age squared
- Gender
- Number of children
- Worked hours, worked hours squared

Increase working hours mother
1 15
2 25
3 35

CHANGE work hours mother by CHANGE happiness child

Mothers working hours increase by 15 hours per 
week

mother working increase by 25 hours per week.

mother working increase by 35 hours per week.
b-fix controled for:
- child characteristics
  - age
  - gender (boy = 1)
- mother characteristics
  - education
  - smoking
  - age
  - single mother household
- family characterisics
  - household non-labour income
  - number of children in household
- region of residence
- year of interview

Publication reports association with 'low 
life-satisfaction'.Sign reversed by WDH team.

Measure of happiness dependent on the relative change 
in income level (based upon the log of T4 income 
divided by the average income of T1-T3)

b (0.035) controlled for:
- sexe
- age/age squared
- self-reported health
- marital status
- eduation
- unemployed
- number of children
- religiouness
- region

b (0.027) when additionally controlled for 
absolute income.

Log annual household income, deflated by the price 
index

Assessed every year

CHANGE happiness by CHANGE in log income
Income up   happiness up    16% satisfied 
achievers
            happiness same  30%
            happiness down  18% frustrated 
achievers
Income down happiness up    9%
            happinbess same 16%
            happiness down  11%

b (+0.0033) controlled for:
- family status
- number of children

Satisfied achievers (Easterlin types) only:

Frustrated archievers only: 

b's controlled for:
- number of children
- familiy status

Frustrated Achievers are happier than Satisfied 
Achievers (M = 5, 22 vs 4,17 p<.05)

Frustrated achievers more
- female
- divorced
- low educated
- low income

Change in personal inome over 1 year. Scaled question, 
scale not reported.