佚名/Anonymous
In terms of happiness, your spouse—if you have one—is worth$100, 000 a year.
That’s the finding of two economists who have tried to put a monetary value on happiness, measuring the emotional value of everything from religion to racial discrimination in dollars.
Such a calculation, admits economist David Blanchflower is“a little bit off the wall”and may prompt wry comments within some marriages on“cashing in”.
The two economists are, of course, speaking of averages. They have used an annual survey of some 1,500 Americans from 1972 to 1998 to measure self-reported happiness and the factors that go with it. But it turns out that the happiness value of a stable marriage is“incredibly high”, says Dr. Blanchflower, a professor at Dartmouth College in Hanover, N. H., whose study has just been published by the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, Mass.“Don’t give it up lightly.”
Blanch flower and his partner Andrew Oswald, an economist at Warwick University in Britain, begin with this question:“Taken all together, how would you say things are these days—would you say that you are happy, pretty happy, or not so happy?”
The survey results include detailed characteristics of those surveyed-married, divorced, single, income level, race, gender, etc. With that data, they found which factors are associated with greater happiness.
Extra money does buy some happiness. But not as much as many would suspect. Constructing a sort of happiness index that assigns 3 to“very happy”, 2 to“pretty happy”, and 1 to“not too happy”, the two reckon that an extra dollar provides 0.00000409 in additional happiness. Or $10,000 would give you 0.04 units of extra happiness.
The two economists, using this index, assign a dollar value to other factors associated with more or less happiness.
Using that device, a lasting marriage is worth $100,000 per year compared with being widowed or divorced. Being“separated”is the greatest depressant of happiness, followed closely by the death of a spouse.
Second and subsequent marriages are less happy than first marriages on average.
A 16-year-old whose parents divorced has a lower level of wellbeing in adulthood.
“Marriage is believed by psychologists and psychiatrists to provide a protective effect to mental well-being.”the authors note.
Blanchflower suspects the decline in the happiness level of Americans from the early 1970s to the late 1990s, despite rising incomes, may be attributed to the rise in divorce.
Other findings include:
● To bring African-Americans up to average happiness levels, they would need an extra $30,000 in annual income.
This, the authors speculate, may be the impact of racial discrimination. Over the past few decades, however, their happiness level has risen.“Blacks have made up some ground.”they say.
● Unemployment is highly damaging to men’s happiness. It would take $60,000 a year to offset being jobless.
● Men’s happiness has trended up. Women’s sense of wellbeing, though higher than that of men, has fallen“noticeably”.
Policies aimed at ending discrimination against women apparently have not boosted their happiness overall.
● The educated tend to be happier than those less educated, even when separated from the higher income that often accompanies greater education.
● Happiness and life satisfaction are U-shaped according to age. In the United States, people’s sense of well-being sinks to a low around 40 and then rises.
Perhaps, the authors suggest, people adapt to their circumstances, relinquish some unfulfilled aspirations by the middle of their lives, and enjoy life more.
● Being religious has a positive effect.
● Overall the number of children and siblings a person has doesn’t have an impact on their happiness. But for those under 30, happiness decreases proportionately to the number of both children and siblings. Blanchflower and Mr. Oswald found it in a separate study,“The Rising Well-Being of the Young”.
Blanchflower suspects this has to do with the stress associated with having lots of kids.
Surveys in Britain give“noticeably similar results”to those in the US. But people’s level of satisfaction has remained about the same from the early 1970s to the late1990s.
说到幸福，你的伴侣——如果你有的话——一年的价值是10万美元。
这是两位试图制订幸福的金钱价值的经济学家得出的，他们以美元为单位，从宗教到种族歧视来对每件事物的情感价值进行测量。
这样的计算“有些离奇”，经济学家大卫·布兰奇弗劳尔表示承认。而这一计算有可能使人产生曲解，认为有些婚姻是以“从中谋利”为目的。
当然，这两位经济学家谈及的只是一般人。从1972年到1998年，他们每年大约调查1，500名美国人，根据他们对幸福的认识，以及产生这样的认识的影响因素进行测量。布兰奇弗劳尔博士是新罕布什尔州汉诺威市达特茅斯大学的教授，马萨诸塞州剑桥市的全国经济研究局新近发表了他的论文。他说，调查结果表明，稳定婚姻的幸福价值“出奇的高”。他还说：“对婚姻不要轻易地放手。”
安德鲁·奥斯瓦尔德是英国华威大学的经济学家，也是布兰奇弗劳尔的合作伙伴。他们以“总的来说，你会怎样描述近况——是快乐、相当快乐，还是不怎么快乐”为起点，开始合作调查。
调查对象的详细情况：已婚、离异、单身、收入水平、种族和性别等，都包含在他们的调查结果中。根据这些数据，他们找出了与更高层次的幸福相关的因素。
特别的是，某种幸福的确可以用金钱买到，但也并不像人们猜想的那样多。他们设计了这样一种幸福指数：对“非常幸福”赋值3，“相当幸福”赋值2，“不太幸福”赋值1。根据幸福指数，他们估算出，幸福每增值0.00000409，就相应额外增加1美元，或者每增加1万美元，就使你的幸福增值0.04。
用这个指数，两位经济学家以1美元的单位价值，对与幸福或多或少相关的其他因素进行估价。
按这种方式，持久的婚姻与鳏寡或离异相比较，其每年价值为10万美元。对幸福最大的抑制剂是“与配偶分离”，丧偶次之。
第一次婚姻通常会比第二次婚姻和以后的再婚幸福。
一个在他16岁父母就离异的孩子，其成人期的健康快乐程度很低。
“心理学家和精神病学家相信，婚姻对精神健康起到保护作用。”两位作者注解道。
自20世纪70年代初期到90年代末期，虽然美国人的收入提高了，但他们的幸福水平降低了，布兰奇弗劳尔怀疑这也许归因于离婚率的增加。
还有一些发现：
·非洲裔美国人的年收入需要增加3万美元，才能使他们的幸福程度上升到平均水平。
两位作者推测，这样的结果或许与种族歧视有关。不过，几十年过去后，他们的幸福水平有所上升。“黑人的状况有了一些改善。”他们说。
·失业严重地损伤了男人的幸福。一年需要6万美元才能补偿这种无业的状况。
·男人的幸福程度有上升的趋势。尽管女人的幸福感比男人高，但是已经“明显”地下降了。
原则上实行的男女平等，显然没有提高她们的幸福感。
·受教育多的人倾向于比受教育少的人更幸福，即使不涉及高收入的问题，幸福也往往是与前者相伴。
·随着年龄的增加，幸福程度与生活的满意度呈U形曲线变化。在美国，在40岁左右时，人们对幸福的感觉降至最低谷，之后又逐渐上升。
两位作者解释说，也许人到中年时，人们已适应了自己的环境，也会放弃一些自己不能实现的理想，因此也就更能享受生活。
·宗教信仰可以产生积极的影响。
·总的来说，一个人的幸福感并不受到孩子和同胞的数量的影响。但是对于30岁以下的人来说，其幸福感随着孩子和同胞数量的增长而成比例降低。在一项单独的研究——“年轻人日益增高的幸福感”中，布兰奇弗劳尔和奥斯瓦尔德先生得出了这一结论。
布兰奇弗劳尔认为，这与需要应对孩子产生的压力有关。
在英国得出的结论与在美国调查的结果“极其相似”。但是，人们的满意程度从20世纪70年代初到90年代末保持相同的水平。
single n.一个；单个；未婚；独身者
例 The tax threshold for a single pensioner is 450 dollars.
单身养老金领取者的征税起点是450美元。
discrimination n.差别对待，差别待遇；歧视
例 He is passionately opposed to racial discrimination.
他极端反对种族歧视。
unemployment n.失业；失业状态；失业率
例 The large unemployment made the society instability.
大规模的失业会导致社会不稳定。
accompanies v.陪伴；带有；陪同；伴有
例 Lightning usually accompanies thunder.
闪电通常伴有雷声。
特别的是，某种幸福的确可以用金钱买到，但也并不像人们猜想的那样多。
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原则上实行的男女平等，显然没有提高她们的幸福感。
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随着年龄的增加，幸福程度与生活的满意度呈U形曲线变化。
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In terms of happiness.
in terms of：用……的话；用……字眼；以……的措辞；从……角度来讲
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……compared with being widowed or divorced. compare with：与……相比较
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