TY  - JOUR
AU  - Stevenson,Betsey
AU  - Wolfers,Justin
TI  - Happiness Inequality in the United States
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14220
PY  - 2008
Y2  - August 2008
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14220
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14220.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Betsey Stevenson
The Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania
1454 Steinberg - Dietrich Hall
3620 Locust Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Tel: 215/898-3019
Fax: 215/898-7635
E-Mail: betseys@wharton.upenn.edu

Justin Wolfers
Business and Public Policy Department
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
3620 Locust Walk
Room 1456 Steinberg-Deitrich Hall
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6372
Tel: (215) 898-3013
Fax: (215) 898-7635
E-Mail: jwolfers@wharton.upenn.edu
AB  - This paper examines how the level and dispersion of self-reported happiness has evolved over the period 1972-2006.  While there has been no increase in aggregate happiness, inequality in happiness has fallen substantially since the 1970s.  There have been large changes in the level of happiness across groups: Two-thirds of the black-white happiness gap has been eroded, and the gender happiness gap has disappeared entirely.  Paralleling changes in the income distribution, differences in happiness by education have widened substantially.  We develop an integrated approach to measuring inequality and decomposing changes in the distribution of happiness, finding a pervasive decline in within-group inequality during the 1970s and 1980s that was experienced by even narrowly-defined demographic groups.  Around one-third of this decline has subsequently been unwound.  Juxtaposing these changes with large rises in income inequality suggests an important role for non-pecuniary factors in shaping the well-being distribution.
ER  -