Early-Life Correlates of Later-Life Well-Being: Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study

Andrew Clark and Tom Lee ()
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Tom Lee: Institute for Fiscal Studies, London

No 11135, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: We here use data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (WLS) to provide one of the first analyses of the distal (early-life) and proximal (later-life) correlates of older-life subjective well-being. Unusually, we have two distinct measures of the latter: happiness and eudaimonia. Even after controlling for proximal covariates, outcomes at age 18 (IQ score, parental income and parental education) remain good predictors of well-being over 50 years later. In terms of the proximal covariates, mental health and social participation are the strongest predictors of both measures of well-being in older age. However, there are notable differences in the other correlates of happiness and eudaimonia. As such, well-being policy will depend to an extent on which measure is preferred.

Keywords: health; eudaimonia; well-being; life-course; happiness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I31 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 39 pages
Date: 2017-11
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-hap, nep-hea and nep-ltv
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published - published in: Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 2021, 181, 360-368

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https://docs.iza.org/dp11135.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Early-life correlates of later-life well-being: Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (2021)
Working Paper: Early-life correlates of later-life well-being: Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (2021)
Working Paper: Early-life correlates of later-life well-being: Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (2021)
Working Paper: Early-life correlates of later-life well-being: evidence from the Wisconsin longitudinal study (2017)
Working Paper: Early-life correlates of later-life well-being: Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (2017)
Working Paper: Early-life correlates of later-life well-being: evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (2017)
Working Paper: Early-life correlates of later-life well-being: Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (2017)
Working Paper: Early-life correlates of later-life well-being: Evidence from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (2017)
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