Research Catalog

Title

The origins of happiness : the science of well-being over the life course / Andrew E. Clark, Sarah Flèche, Richard Layard, Nattavudh Powdthavee, and George Ward.

Author

Clark, Andrew E.

Publication

Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2018]

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Flèche, Sarah
• Layard, Richard, 1934-
• Powdthavee, Nick
• Ward, George

Description

viii, 325 pages : illustrations; 23 cm

Summary

"What makes people happy? Why should governments care about people's well-being? How would policy change if well-being was the main objective? The Origins of Happiness seeks to revolutionize how we think about human priorities and to promote public policy changes that are based on what really matters to people. Drawing on a uniquely comprehensive range of evidence from longitudinal data on over one hundred thousand individuals in Britain, the United States, Australia, and Germany, the authors consider the key factors that affect human well-being. The authors explore factors such as income, education, employment, family conflict, health, childcare, and crime -- and their findings are not what we might expect. Contrary to received wisdom, income inequality accounts for only two percent or less of the variance in happiness across the population; the critical factors affecting a person's happiness are their relationships and their mental and physical health. More people are in misery due to mental illness than to poverty, unemployment, or physical illness. Examining how childhood influences happiness in adulthood, the authors show that academic performance is a less important predictor than emotional health and behavior, which is shaped tremendously by schools, individual teachers, and parents. For policymakers, the authors propose new forms of cost-effectiveness analysis that places well-being at center stage. Groundbreaking in its scope and results, The Origins of Happiness offers all of us a new vision for how we might become more healthy, happy, and whole. "--

Subjects

• SOCIAL SCIENCE / Sociology / General
• POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / General
• Happiness
• PSYCHOLOGY / Mental Health
• PSYCHOLOGY / Social Psychology
• Glück,
• BUSINESS & ECONOMICS / Economics / General

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references and index.

Contents

Introduction: The new paradigm -- 1. Happiness over the life course: what matters most? -- Part I. What makes a happy adult? -- 2. Income -- 3. Education -- 4. Work and unemployment -- 5. Building a family -- 6. Health of mind and body -- 7. Crime -- 8. Social norms and institutions -- Happiness at older ages -- Part II. What makes a successful child? -- 10. Family income -- 11. Working parents -- 12. Parenting and parents' mental health -- 13. Family conflict -- 14. Schooling -- Part III. So what? -- 15. Measuring cost-effectiveness in terms of happiness -- 16. The origins of happiness.

Call Number

JFD 19-1576

ISBN

• 9780691177892
• 0691177899

LCCN

• 2017028273
• 40027880989
• 14241973

OCLC

983825046

Author

Clark, Andrew E., author.

Title

The origins of happiness : the science of well-being over the life course / Andrew E. Clark, Sarah Flèche, Richard Layard, Nattavudh Powdthavee, and George Ward.

Publisher

Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2018]

Type of Content

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

Type of Carrier

volume

Bibliography

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Note

ED: PARIS SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS.

Added Author

Flèche, Sarah, author.

Layard, Richard, 1934- author.

Powdthavee, Nick, author.

Ward, George, author.

Other Standard Identifier

40027880989

14241973

Research Call Number

JFD 19-1576