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Does relative material wealth matter for child and adolescent life satisfaction?

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  • Hudson, Eibhlin

Abstract

There is a substantial literature examining the impact of relative wealth or income on adult subjective well-being. Yet the relationship between relative wealth and the subjective well-being of children and adolescents remains largely unknown. This study examines the role of relative (peer) wealth in determining youth life satisfaction. Examining this relationship in the young is advantageous as children and adolescents have limited influence on their socio-economic status. Using school fixed effects, peer groups defined at the school-grade level are likely to be partially exogenous as the student's grade is largely determined by year of birth. The results suggest that relative wealth is negatively associated with life satisfaction, though mainly for males.

Suggested Citation

  • Hudson, Eibhlin, 2013. "Does relative material wealth matter for child and adolescent life satisfaction?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 38-47.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:46:y:2013:i:c:p:38-47
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2013.06.007
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    Cited by:

    1. Dolan, Paul & Foy, Chloe & Kavetsos, Georgios & Kudrna, Laura, 2021. "Faster, higher, stronger… and happier? Relative achievement and marginal rank effects," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    2. Kyle D. Buck & J. Kevin Summers & Lisa M. Smith & Linda C. Harwell, 2018. "Application of the Human Well-Being Index to Sensitive Population Divisions: a Children’s Well-Being Index Development," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(4), pages 1249-1280, August.
    3. Chenghua Guan & Yingjie Qiu & Ruopeng An, 2019. "Relative Income and Life Satisfaction among Chinese Adults," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(20), pages 1-12, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Subjective well-being; Life satisfaction; Comparison wealth; Reference groups;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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