HAPPINESS AND AGE—RESOLVING THE DEBATE

David Blanchflower, Carol Graham and Alan Piper

National Institute Economic Review, 2023, vol. 263, 76-93

Abstract: This article is a response to a piece in this journal, by David Bartram, which questions the validity of a vast literature establishing consistently a U-shaped relationship between age and happiness. There are 618 published studies that find U-shapes in that relationship in 145 countries, and only a handful that do not. Of the 30 countries that Bartram (2023, National Institute Economic Review, 1–15) examines, he finds U-shapes in 18. We show compelling evidence of U-shapes in the remaining dozen countries. Supporting evidence of a U-shape is found in objective measures including deaths of despair, depression, stress and pain that are worst in midlife.

Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cup:nierev:v:263:y:2023:i::p:76-93_6

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