Is Happiness Determined by Income Rather Than Grades?…Higher Education and Income Increase Life Satisfaction

Overall Adult Happiness Index 6.68 Points, Relatively Low
Happiness Decreases with Age

The happiness index of adults in South Korea was found to be less than 7 points out of 10.

According to a research report titled "Factors Affecting the Happiness Index of Koreans by Life Cycle," published on the 3rd in the official journal of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Weekly Health and Disease, the research team analyzed factors influencing the happiness index and subjective happiness of 226,545 adults aged 19 and older (102,284 men and 124,261 women) who participated in the 2015 Community Health Survey.

The study results showed that the overall happiness index of the survey participants was relatively low at 6.68 out of 10. The proportion of those who subjectively felt happy was 34.7% of the total. In other words, only 3 out of 10 people felt subjective happiness. By gender, 35.4% of men and 34.2% of women felt happy, with men slightly higher by a narrow margin.

When looking at the subjective happiness recognition rate by life cycle (age group), it was ▲39.5% for ages 19?44 ▲35.3% for ages 45?64 ▲29.7% for ages 65?74 ▲25.7% for ages 75 and older, showing that happiness decreased as age increased.

The research team interpreted this as "a result indicating that people tend to be less happy in old age," adding, "This can be seen as reflecting the current situation in Korean society, where the elderly poverty rate and elderly suicide rate are high."

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By education level, the rates were ▲25.0% for no education or elementary school ▲32.3% for middle and high school ▲44.1% for university or higher. By household income, the rates were ▲23.1% for monthly income of 990,000 KRW or less ▲31.6% for 1,000,000 to 2,990,000 KRW ▲39.8% for 3,000,000 to 4,990,000 KRW ▲49.1% for 5,000,000 KRW or more, indicating that higher education and income levels were associated with greater life satisfaction.

Additionally, those currently living with a spouse were found to subjectively feel happier than those without a spouse due to reasons such as divorce, separation, bereavement, or being unmarried.

Other factors that increased happiness included ▲volunteer activities ▲active participation in social activities such as religion, fellowship, and leisure ▲contact with family, neighbors, and friends ▲good health ▲satisfaction with the social and physical environment ▲not skipping breakfast and getting sufficient deep sleep.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.