However, it is interesting to look at the relative effects life events have on men and women. Telegraph.co.uk 11/16: Cost of happiness discovered by Australian economist.
Paul Frijters, a professor at Queensland University of Technology, has calculated a formula he claims delivers the monetary equivalent of the value of various milestones in life.
The figures represent a lump sum a person would need to receive out of the blue in order to make him or her as happy as marriage [or other event] would over a lifetime.
The end of the article has this table, with my observations below.
Marriage: woman - £8, 726.25 man - £17, 675.68
Birth of child: woman - £ 4, 866.77 man - £18, 236.39
Divorce: woman - £4, 977.08 (loss) man - £61, 116.46 (loss)
Death of a loved one: woman - £73, 204.86 (loss) man - £350, 830.36 (loss)
Illness: woman - £28, 124.61(loss) man - £201, 264.68 (loss)
Moving house: woman - £1, 453.80 (gain) man - £8, 947.11 (loss)
1. For the average woman, marriage is twice as good as the birth of a child, but for the average man, the birth of a child is slightly better.
2. Moving homes hurts men a lot -- nearly twice as much as divorce hurts women. The average woman, on the other hand, enjoys moving.
3. To see an equal decline in happiness, the average woman would have to lose five loved ones for every one the average man loses.
4. To the average man, divorce hurts nearly twice as much as the combined happiness gains of marriage and the birth of a child. To the average woman, on the other hand, the combined effect of marriage and the birth of a child is more than twice as good as divorce is bad.
5. Finally, an observation unrelated to the table: In estimating these dollar values, did Frijters have to assume that men and women value "money out of the blue" equally? If not I wonder if the magnitude of the differences between gender is partially due to men valuing "money out of the blue" more than women.
