Research: Lower Income Linked to Higher Life Dissatisfaction

Research: Lower Income Linked to Higher Life Dissatisfaction

Some people believe that money cannot buy happiness, yet new research indicates that having more money may make you feel more satisfied.

According to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis released on Thursday, 3.6% of people with family incomes of 200% or more of the federal poverty level reported being “very dissatisfied” or “dissatisfied” with life in 2021, compared to 8.1% of American adults making less than 200% of the federal poverty level.

Researchers discovered that 9.3% of males and 7.2% of women among people with household earnings below 200% of the federal poverty level—roughly $55,000 for a family of four, based on the study—were unhappy with their lives. Merely 3.8% of males and 3.4% of women who were adults earning 200% or more of the FPL expressed dissatisfaction.

Researchers concluded, “This study highlights the significance of income stratification when analyzing life satisfaction as a national indicator of well-being.” “These results suggest that the prevalence of life dissatisfaction is higher among certain demographic subgroups of adults with lower incomes, despite the fact that the percentage of life dissatisfaction is relatively low among the total adult population.”

The study found that 3.7% of adults in the United States were unsatisfied and 1.1% were very dissatisfied with life, or around 5% of all adults in the country were unhappy or very unhappy. Nonetheless, people in the lower-income group were “repeatedly more likely” to express discontent, and the researchers observed significant differences between the demographic groups with incomes below 200% of the poverty line. A comparison of adults with higher wages by age, race and ethnicity, and sex did not reveal any statistically significant differences.

“This suggests that people with lower incomes are largely responsible for the overall differences in life dissatisfaction by these demographic characteristics,” the report states.When it came to age, those with lower family incomes between 45 and 64 years old expressed life unhappiness at a higher rate (11.1%) than did adults in the same age range whose family income was at or over 200% of the federal poverty level (3.8%). In that age group, 5.5% of adults were unsatisfied overall.

Overall, Black adults had a higher likelihood of life dissatisfaction (6%), compared to White adults (4.9%), Hispanic adults (4.1%), and Asian adults (3.1%). However, disparities in satisfaction seemed to be related to income once more, with higher percentages of discontent among adults with lower incomes among White (9.7%) and Black (9.0%) people than among Hispanic (5.0%) or Asian (4.7%) adults, and similar rates among adults with higher means in these groups.

According to the research, adults who were born in the United States reported a greater rate of life unhappiness than adults who were born outside of the country, with 5% versus 3.7%. 9.2% of adults born in the United States and 4.7% of people born abroad reported being dissatisfied or very unsatisfied with their lives among those whose family income was less than 200% of the federal poverty threshold.

The National Center for Health Statistics of the CDC used data from the 2021 National Health Interview Survey to compile the analysis’s conclusions. For the first time since 2001, officials included a question on life satisfaction in the survey that year in an effort to gauge and track adult well-being in the United States.

According to earlier studies, life satisfaction is associated with longer life expectancy as well as with better health outcomes, habits, and well-being markers among older persons. “A positive association between income and life satisfaction,” which indicates that “people with higher incomes generally rate their satisfaction with life to be higher, while those with lower incomes generally rate their satisfaction to be lower,” is another finding cited by the current study.

The United States was placed 14th out of 41 countries in the Better Life Index by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which measures life satisfaction.M-J Global is the best visa agent in Dubai,Oman and Qatar and best immigration consultant in Oman,Dubai and Qatar.It is the most trusted immigration agency in middle east and the business migration agent in Oman,Dubai and Qatar.M-J Global is the best registered Immigration Agent in Dubai,Oman and Qater.