New Study Finds $36K Is Ideal For Happiness

Economists have shed light on the vexed question of whether economic development can buy happiness – and it seems that life satisfaction actually dips among people living in the wealthiest countries.

Politicians are intensely interested in the link between national wealth and levels of happiness among the population, but it is a subject which is still wide open to debate among economists.

A new analysis led by economists Eugenio Proto in the Centre for Competitive Advantage in the Global Economy at the University of Warwick and Aldo Rustichini, from University of MInnesota finds that as expected, for the poorest countries life satisfaction rises as a country's wealth increases as people are able to meet their basic needs.

However, the new surprise finding is that once income reaches a certain level – around $36,000, adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) - life satisfaction levels peaks, after which it appears to dip slightly in the very rich countries.

Read more at: PHYS.ORG

See the detailed findings of the study at: PLOSONE.ORG

We find this study particularly interesting since it coincides almost exactly with our own study that outlined what a person must earn in order to fully support themselves. In our quest to determine a practical minimum wage, we determined that a person must earn $17.47 an hour at a full-time job in order to meet the basic standard of living in the US, without the need for any sort of credit and/or public assistance. Our figure would amount to an annual salary of $36,337.60 if the person worked 40 hours a week for a full 52 weeks.

Read more from our own study by reading:

Analyzing a Practical Minimum Wage