Money and Mental Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study of Medium-Sized Lottery Wins

Jonathan Gardner () and Andrew Oswald
Additional contact information
Jonathan Gardner: Watson Wyatt LLP

No 2233, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: One of the famous questions in social science is whether money makes people happy. We offer new evidence by using longitudinal data on a random sample of Britons who receive medium-sized lottery wins of between £1000 and £120,000 (that is, up to approximately U.S. $200,000). When compared to two control groups – one with no wins and the other with small wins – these individuals go on eventually to exhibit significantly better psychological health. Two years after a lottery win, the average measured improvement in mental wellbeing is 1.4 GHQ points.

Keywords: GHQ; psychological health; happiness; income (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D1 I3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 28 pages
Date: 2006-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea, nep-ltv and nep-upt
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Published - published in: Journal of Health Economics, 2007, 26 (1), 49-60

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Related works:
Journal Article: Money and mental wellbeing: A longitudinal study of medium-sized lottery wins (2007)
Working Paper: Money and Mental Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study of Medium-Sized Lottery Wins (2006)
Working Paper: Money and Mental Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study of Medium-Sized Lottery Wins (2006)
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