From a Young Teen‟s Perspective: Income and the Happiness of Canadian 12 to 15 Year-Olds

Peter Burton and Shelley Phipps

Working Papers from Dalhousie University, Department of Economics

Abstract: Much recent work by economists has studied the association between income and happiness for adults; children and youth have received considerably less attention in the economics „happiness‟ literature. The Statistics Canada National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (NLSCY) asks 12 to 15 year old children to assess their own happiness, while mothers report income and most basic demographic information. We use these data to conduct a multivariate analysis of the association between income and happiness from a young teen‟s perspective. We find positive associations between family income and young teen happiness, especially when we use a long- run average measure of family income. However, quantitatively, income is not nearly as important as family structure, teen‟s age and health status, or parental well-being.

Keywords: happiness; well-being; children; youth; income; relative income (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2010-10-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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