Lock-downs, Loneliness and Life Satisfaction / Daniel S. Hamermesh.

By:

Hamermesh, Daniel S

Contributor(s):

National Bureau of Economic Research

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) ; no. w27018.Publication details: Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2020.Description: 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white)Subject(s):

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Abstract: Using the 2012-13 American Time Use Survey, I find that both who people spend time with and how they spend it affect their happiness, adjusted for numerous demographic and economic variables. Satisfaction among married individuals increases most with additional time spent with spouse. Among singles, satisfaction decreases most as more time is spent alone. Assuming that lock-downs constrain married people to spend time solely with their spouses, simulations show that their happiness may have been increased compared to before the lock-downs; but sufficiently large losses of work time and income reverse this inference. Simulations demonstrate clearly that, assuming lock-downs impose solitude on singles, their happiness was reduced, reductions that are made more severe by income and work losses.

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Item type	Home library	Collection	Call number	Status	Date due	Barcode	Item holds
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Previous	nber w27015 Innovative Growth Accounting /	nber w27016 Market Structure and Product Assortment: Evidence from a Natural Experiment in Liquor Licensure /	nber w27017 Labor Markets During the COVID-19 Crisis: A Preliminary View /	nber w27018 Lock-downs, Loneliness and Life Satisfaction /	nber w27019 Covid-19: Testing Inequality in New York City /	nber w2702 Collapsing Exchange Rate Regimes: Shocks and Biases /	nber w27020 Economic Policy Incentives to Preserve Lives and Livelihoods /	Next

April 2020.

Using the 2012-13 American Time Use Survey, I find that both who people spend time with and how they spend it affect their happiness, adjusted for numerous demographic and economic variables. Satisfaction among married individuals increases most with additional time spent with spouse. Among singles, satisfaction decreases most as more time is spent alone. Assuming that lock-downs constrain married people to spend time solely with their spouses, simulations show that their happiness may have been increased compared to before the lock-downs; but sufficiently large losses of work time and income reverse this inference. Simulations demonstrate clearly that, assuming lock-downs impose solitude on singles, their happiness was reduced, reductions that are made more severe by income and work losses.