The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness

Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers

No 2009-11, Working Paper Series from Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Abstract: By many objective measures the lives of women in the United States have improved over the past 35 years, yet we show that measures of subjective well-being indicate that women’s happiness has declined both absolutely and relative to men. The paradox of women’s declining relative well-being is found across various datasets, measures of subjective well-being, and is pervasive across demographic groups and industrialized countries. Relative declines in female happiness have eroded a gender gap in happiness in which women in the 1970s typically reported higher subjective well-being than did men. These declines have continued and a new gender gap is emerging—one with higher subjective well-being for men.

Keywords: Well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D6 I32 J1 J7 K1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 48
Date: 2009-04-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hap
Note: PDF date: May 12, 2009.
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (210)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness (2009)
Working Paper: The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness (2009)
Working Paper: The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness (2009)
Working Paper: The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness (2009)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fip:fedfwp:2009-11

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DOI: 10.24148/wp2009-11

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