High and Rising Life-Satisfaction Levels Among Those With University Degrees in the UK 1996-2025

Andrew E. Clark, Maria Cotofan and Andrew Oswald
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Andrew E. Clark: Paris School of Economics CNRS
Maria Cotofan: Kings College London
Andrew Oswald: University of Warwick

The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) from University of Warwick, Department of Economics

Abstract: There has been recent debate in the UK about the value of a university degree. It is now widely believed that the ‘wage’ return has fallen through time – in a way that makes some observers doubt whether a young person should attend university. This paper investigates that concern. It uses data on approximately 600,000 randomly sampled individuals from the early 1990s up to 2024/25. There are two main findings. First, the paper confirms the fact that the monetary return to higher education -- although still substantial -- has declined over the last few decades. Second, and by contrast, the paper demonstrates that the ‘life satisfaction’ return to a university degree is high and in fact has increased over the previous quarter of a century. This is true generally (that is, for the whole population) and for recent young cohorts. Put into everyday English, those who go to university in the UK have increasingly better and happier lives than those who do not.

Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wrk:warwec:1632

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