The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness

Stevenson, Betsey; Wolfers, Justin

doi:10.24148/wp2009-11

Working Paper

The Paradox of Declining Female Happiness

Abstract: By many objective measures the lives of women in the United States have improved over the past 35 years, yet we show that measures of subjective well-being indicate that women’s happiness has declined both absolutely and relative to men. The paradox of women’s declining relative well-being is found across various datasets, measures of subjective well-being, and is pervasive across demographic groups and industrialized countries. Relative declines in female happiness have eroded a gender gap in happiness in which women in the 1970s typically reported higher subjective well-being than did men. These declines have continued and a new gender gap is emerging—one with higher subjective well-being for men.

JEL Classification: D6; I32; J1; J7; K1;

https://doi.org/10.24148/wp2009-11