Poverty in America and Happiness Talking Points
This article from the Christian Science Monitor explores new census data that shows that the poor in America own computers, dishwashers, and other appliances of convenience and amusement at historic rates. Naturally, the happiness question arises, and shows how journalists have been effectively propagandized into repeating a misleading, ideological happpiness talking point whenever good economic news arrives…
. . . by almost all measures, the data show rising well-being for all of society. And while the wealth gap may not be narrowing, the rich-poor gap in lifestyles has narrowed substantially since 1992 when measured in many of these tangible items.
“In terms of the items people have … it amazes me the number of people who are at or near the poverty line that have color TVs, cable, washer, dryer, microwave,” says Michael Cosgrove, an economist at the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas. That’s not to ignore the hardships of poverty, he adds, “but the conveniences they have are in fact pretty good.”
Poor, but more comfortable
The study doesn’t explore the happiness factor — whether the growing material prosperity is actually making people feel more satisfied with their lives. While economists tend to focus on things that can be measured in dollars and cents, the spiritual side of the economy has begun to garner more attention. That’s partly because some research has found that once people gain a modest sufficiency in goods, further increases in income don’t result in rising happiness.
This happiness talking point is extremely misleading. First, “don’t result in rising happiness” obscures the fact that a large majority of poor Americans already report themselves as being pretty or very happy. I think many readers would interpet this as “doesn’t do anything to pull people up from misery or unhappiness.” It would be less misleading to say “further increases in income don’t result in happy people becoming even happier.”
Second, the talking point makes it sound as if there is some general finding that implies that a doubling of my salary would have no effect on my happiness. Which, of course, is total rubbish. We’re talking about wealth within the United States, here. So, while the correlation between average income and average happiness is weak (though positive) over time or between countries–meaning that the average happiness at any given point in the distribution over the critical absolute threshold is likely to hold pretty steady over generations or between societies–the correlation within a given country at a given time is strong, and that’s the relevant measure. Since everyone lives in a particular country at a particular time, what the research has found is that if your income increases, you are likely to get an increase in self-reported happiness. At any time and place, wealthier individuals will tend to be happier than less wealthy individuals.
Now, a rise in income sufficient only to maintain your position in the distribution will be unlikely make you much happier than you already are (unless your aspirations were low). However, through their prime working years, individual’s incomes generally rise much faster than the economy grows (my income, to take a very typical example, has increased well more than 200% since I first entered the labor market). And so you can expect your rising income to have a very positive effect on your happiness through your working years, and throughout your life, if you have invested well. And this is just what the life-cycle happiness breakdown shows. It’s our growing wealth that keeps our total satisfaction with life more or less steady as our satisfaction with health and family starts to declines in our our middle age.
Journalists need to understand that the “more money won’t make you happier” talking point is, in fact, a piece of propaganda designed to weaken public support for wealth-enhancing policies. Once the data is framed correctly, there is really no reason to use the talking points. It does nothing to “balance” the story. Even if it is true that the microwaves and dishwashers of those beneath the poverty line aren’t making them happier than they already were, they are freeing up time that would otherwise be spent on cooking and doing dishes. And that’s just good.
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I’m back from a road trip (I-10 through the soutwest) where I saw a lot of seeming old-style hobos. Guys with hats, coats, and bed-rolls tied with a rope. I saw at least a dozen, alone, or in twos or threes.
I’m thinking that when I was a kid (a few decades ago) hobo sightings were rare.
IMO the critical question with respect to modern American poverty is whether we are counting the right people.
The working poor (classified as anyone with a zero or negative savings rate?) are one thing, They have a roof over their head.
I’m worried that we don’t have good numbers on how many are on the streets (or out on the road).
This might relate to the poor-with-dishwashers discussion, if indeed bad financial planning leads to the “hobo state.”
(I also noticed that a couple radio stations in the Texas panhandle and in New Mexico were doing Christian financial management shows. “Get debt free.” I remember one woman who called in had a family income of $120K, a debt of $50K on cars, and a debt of $30K on credit cards. How many people buy SUVs on credit, and then put the gas on credit? I don’t know, but that kind of consumer behavior boggles my mind, and then boggles it again when I see how common it is. I’m afraid that is our economy in a nutshell.)
Sorry for the ramble … but I think there is something up here, perhaps related to the “pursuit” of happiness in our times.
[…] Will Wilkinson challenges the ubiquitous “more money won’t make you happier” talking point. (Highlights added by me.) Now, a rise in income sufficient only to maintain your position in the distribution will be unlikely make you much happier than you already are (unless your aspirations were low). However, through their prime working years, individual’s incomes generally rise much faster than the economy grows (my income, to take a very typical example, has increased well more than 200% since I first entered the labor market). And so you can expect your rising income to have a very positive effect on your happiness through your working years, and throughout your life, if you have invested well. And this is just what the life-cycle happiness breakdown shows. It’s our growing wealth that keeps our total satisfaction with life more or less steady as our satisfaction with health and family starts to declines in our our middle age. […]
I found this article doing a web search for the answer to this question, “why are people in poor countries happier than those in the US?” If money can buy you happiness- why are Americans doped up on anti-depressants, getting divorced, yelling at their kids, and trying to kill each other on the interstates on the way to work? Meanwhile women who live in dirt huts in Kenya are happily singing on their way to collect firewood to boil some gruel for their one meal a day. Being poor has never made me happy- but being well off hasn’t seemed to make most of us happy either.
Perhaps the amount of money is the wrong factor to be studying when it comes to happiness and public policy.
What about the amount of time people spend with their family? People in poor countries spend a lot of time with their immediate and extended family. We spend a lot of time at work, in traffic and shopping.
What about traffic- people in poor countries may have to walk a long way to get their needs met, but there really isn’t much traffic to deal with. And they are most likely walking along with their family and friends.
What about expectations? People in poor countries expect their lives to be the way they are. In our country, we are expected to have more and do more- no matter what level we are at. Once you get a color tv- why don’t you have one in every room? bigger ones? flat screens? hdtv?
What about faith? Despite a surprising 80% of Americans identifying themselves as Christians- we seem to lack faith that everything is all right, that some higher power is taking care of us and that we can relax and enjoy the gift of life.
Can public policy impact these types of conditions? Certainly, but public opinion would need to support those policies.
A shorter work week, more family leave, better public transportation, decentralized work centers, tighter reign on advertising and credit, all these things would give us more of the peace found in poor countries, without giving up the day to day happiness we find in our consumer goods.
Which leads to the next quetion- How good is public policy that raises the incomes of the poor but takes away the happiness factors- such as time with family etc? Is the goal to increase gnp or to increase happiness?
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mahapronkss6dur@hot.ee
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I really agree with Becka about money and happiness. There were some articles about happiness (from the BBC website) which claimed even though the U.S. has gotten richer, it hasn’t actually gotten “happier.” The article states that “While economists tend to focus on things that can be measured in dollars and cents,” [emphasis here] “the spiritual side of the economy has begun to garner more attention. [emphasis ended]” That is, is the material really making us happier? I’m not sure if this directly pertains to politics but more to the attitudes which make us happy (or unhappy). It seems people in more poor countries are very happy despite their economic conditions.